From Demon to Pirate
by Theboblinator
Summary: (Originally: "Endless Adventure: Second Chance" by kta250298. Got permision to Adopt and Re-Write.) After being murdered in a random school bus shooting, being transported to Hell itself, and finally escaping, Kendrick Austin finds himself in the world of One Piece. Will he be able to continue to outrun the demons of his past? One would certainly hope so. (Kendrick/Nami)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: From Earth to Hell to the Seas**

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><p><strong>NOTE: I was given permission by <span>kta250298 <span>themselves to adopt this story and continue it for them. So don't you guys go accusing me of stealing it and posting it for my own fame. Now that that's out of the way, here's the story itself. Enjoy.**

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><p>It's strange how rapidly one's life can change. Take me for example, Kendrick Austin. Or Ken to the few people that I knew. I was a fairly normal teenage kid, if a bit grim at times perhaps, but generally trying not to make a nuisance of myself. I enjoyed learning new things (Ironically enough, I detested school. Although, that's to be expected from almost everyone who ever went there in the first place) and my teachers seemed to agree that I was a bright kid in my own right. I was fifteen when everything changed.<p>

I was riding the bus to school, a fairly average occurrence, although I was always the first to be picked up on this bus' route so no one else was riding it except myself and the driver, when the windows were suddenly blown in from gunfire. The bus swerved and crashed into a tree, launching me to the front. I gingerly stood and forced open the doors, and by forced I mean I pressed the emergency unlock button, before falling out onto the rough asphalt that made up the road. I could smell the smoke from the crushed engine, and heard someone walking closer to me at a steady pace. The person's steps seemingly everywhere in my dazed confusion. When I looked up, the flash from the barrel of a gun the last thing I saw.

The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by darkness, a deadly silence surrounding me. I felt like I was lying on a table, before I was suddenly blinded by multiple lights turning on all at once. All of which were all aimed at me. Gloved hands that faded in and out of the darkness surrounding the spotlights were holding various tools, some looking like surgical equipment, and others that I couldn't even _begin _to comprehend their use. I couldn't move, speak or do anything to stop them as they went to work on me.

After they had finished their agonizing work, I remember being wheeled into a strange white room covered in red symbols of various kinds. They left me there for a few minutes, nothing breaking the silence except my own pained breath, before I had the sudden sensation of falling. The gurney that I was lying on disappearing from beneath me as I started to fall faster and faster, twisting and turning around in the air. As I fell, I noticed I was coming closer and closer to a light of sorts, but something felt off about it. I realized what was wrong when I finally passed through the light, entering a realm that I wish I could forget.

I saw endless miles of torture and bloodshed, I had fallen into Hell. Dante's works didn't even _begin_ to scrape the surface of the real deal. His concepts but a pitiful shadow of the terrible glory that is Damnation. I saw others falling around me, people and things of all kinds and from all places doomed to the same place. We landed, our bones shattering and organs tearing as we crashed down upon one another in a heap of pain and flesh. It only got worse from there. That was the first time that I learned that I _couldn't die._ The shattered bones began to piece themselves back together, and the limbs that were torn began to stitch back together. To say the process itself wasn't painful would be a lie. It was _agonizing_.

Damnation and places like it don't have the same rules as other planes of existence. Time has no real meaning. Anyone from any-when can be dumped there together at a moment's notice. Any attempts at timekeeping are dashed as tic-marks in cells, fluctuate in amount at seemingly random intervals, the same going for _almost_ any other method. Whether it was for seconds or years, all that mattered was that I was there. The world would constantly change around me, a fresh new torture worse than the last delivered at the hands of a new tormentor. Although, that's how most of the things there kept time. Every new torture for them marked a new "day" in the hell hole that is Damnation. I heard tales that people who served out a sentence were allowed to leave, but that never happened for me. I had to take my freedom for my own.

My chance finally came when a demon thought that it would be a good idea to taunt me with a look-see into the mortal world. It had me chained above a crack that revealed a seemingly endless sea, the smell of salt and the feel of the wind blowing around me. This was shown by the different equipment that they had. Most would think that Hell would be primitive. All the tortures staying the same over the centuries. But that's not true. No. As the humans on earth and alternate ones like it advanced their methods, so did the tortures of Hell. But back to my chance at escape. I hung there limply, my wrists and ankles bound as it mocked me for being so close, and yet so far when a sudden explosion distracted it, making it look in the direction that the sound came from. I felt strength like nothing before surge through me as an insane idea worked itself into my mind. I pulled against my bonds with all my might, working my legs against the rock face to aid my efforts. With an agonizing tear I ripped free, falling though the crack that had started to ripple and shrink, and into the world below. Hardly taking notice to how the machine that had powered the rift in universes was what had exploded, and that as it exploded a second time, the crack closed behind me completely. Nothing to signify that it was ever there, just the bright blue sky.

As I tumbled through the bright blue sky, I had a hard time remembering a moment where I was as happy as I was then. I had done it, I had escaped from Damnation. Tears of joy rained around me, the wind tearing them from my eyes as I careened toward the water below me. The noise of the wind flying around me became deafening as I picked up speed, but I paid no mind to that. Instead becoming lost in the bliss of knowing that I was free from the hell hole that I'd been stuck in. Then I hit the water and everything went black.

The pain and shock of crashing against the water is what knocked me out, and I find myself washed up on an island some time later. I struggle to crawl inland, my body weak from malnourishment and injuries of where I had come from. I have to stop and rest under a tree, panting from exertion. Fruits are lying around me, some rotten while others look fresh. I reach for one close to me and take a bite, the juices running down my chin as I take in the almost heavenly scent and taste. I feel a surge of energy from the first _real _food I've had in…Ever, as far as I'm concerned. Although, I guess that if I kept time the same way as every other tortured soul stuck with me, then I was in that place for around… Three years. Making me eighteen now.

I quickly eat all the food around me on the ground and from the trees as well. I took a long time deciding what to do with a weird swirly fruit that I found, before deciding to take it with me in case I need more food later. But only in an emergency, I'd rather not risk the life I'd just taken back by eating something when I have no idea what it is. My body fueled and feeling better than ever, I start walking down the beach, eating any food I come across on my way. I don't know how long I was walking, but eventually I hear a commotion ahead of me. Excited at the prospect of meeting another person who isn't screaming for mercy, I break into a run. As the sounds grow louder, I slow down so that I don't appear threatening. I have enough sense left in me to realize that a charging naked guy might not be the most welcome sight around here.

_"Sense, that's a joke."_ My more… Unpleasant side says. _"There's not an ounce of sense left in the brat." _They continue.

_"Come now, there's no need to be so hard on him."_ My positive voice rebutted_. "He's _literally_ been to hell and back, I'm sure he'll get better in time."_

"I hope you're right Angela." I say, agreeing with my nice voice, my own voice strained from screaming all the time and hardly recognizable. "You need to think positive Demona." I tell my unpleasant voice.

_"_You_ be positive, _I'll_ be _realistic_."_ She replies in a voice that tells me she's rolling her eyes.

Angela and Demona have been with me as long as I can remember, helping me deal with the endless agony that I went through for those three years in Damnation. Angela has been nice and comforting, but Demona hasn't really. She seems to like being mean more, but I'm still glad she's here. _One_ of us has to be realistic, just like she said. I walk through a thick area of brush and trees to find a clearing, with what appears to be a pirate ship docked at the beach. A group of people in ragged clothing stop… Whatever they were doing to look at me when they spot me walking out of the line of trees. We stare at each other for a while, neither party moving or making a sound. "…Uh… Hi?" I eventually say, waving my hand a bit in greeting.

_"How eloquent, a real _poet_ this one."_ Demona remarks sarcastically.

_"Hush you, they're talking."_ Angela admonishes.

"Who are you?" One of the… Pirates I guess, asks.

"My name's Kendrick… Could you tell me where I am?" I ask, realizing I have no idea where I am other than _not_ in Damnation.

"This island doesn't have a name. It was supposed to be uninhabited." A different guy replies, looking me over. "Where are your clothes? Were you in a shipwrecked?" He asks.

"Uh… Yeah, I was." I answer, thinking that saying I fell out of Hell itself wouldn't go over very well with these people.

"Why don't you show us? Maybe we can find more survivors." One of them offers.

"No! No, that's not necessary." I tell them hastily, trying to cover my ass. "There's nothing left, no survivors." I tell them.

"Then let's keep it that way." Someone behind me says, before a sword is suddenly thrust through my stomach in accompaniment with the voice. I gasp and fall to the ground, clutching my wound as blood gushes over my hands while I try to stem the flow of it, grunting as I'm roughly pushed to the ground by the same person who stabbed me. "Let's get out of here lads, I heard Captain Buggy was around." The man who stabbed me says. "Let's see if he needs some extra hands." He continues, the others cheering in agreement before they start walking toward their ship.

_"Not even a day alive and this happens, you really are worthless aren't you?" _Demona chides.

_"Quiet! Kendrick, breathe honey."_ Angela instructs me.

"It hurts." I tell them quietly.

_"I know it hurts, but you need to find something to stop the bleeding."_ Angela says.

_"Hey, retard, if you want to live you need to eat something."_ Demona remarks.

"But what? I don't see any fruit around." I respond, taking a look around the immediate area.

_"What about that fruit that you picked up a little while ago?" _Angela asks. My eyes widen slightly when I remember it, and pull it out. The design was slightly familiar, but at the same time different. It looked like it was in the shape of an apple, but not. It was more rounded, and the stem was a much darker brown. That, and the fact that there were swirl designs surrounding the entire thing. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it was black? Yes, a _black_ apple. But then again, I don't have much time to worry about it. Or the fact that eating it may speed up my death, because my healing process only works when I'm not hungry… Which I am. So, without another thought, I take a bite, and swallow it.

I'm going to tell you right here and right now, that it was absolutely… Positively… _Gross!_ The reason I don't say disgusting, or non-edible, is because of what I was forced to eat in Damnation. That stuff… Well, it kept us from starving I'll say that much. Unless they chose for starvation to be the torture of the week. So, I pushed past the taste, and eat the whole thing. When it's gone, my wound finally started to heal. Then, I look up to see the retreating forms of the pirates. They had gotten close enough to their ship that some were already climbing aboard. I growl deep in my throat at what they tried to do to me, before pushing myself to my feet and rushing them. As I do so, Demona starts to laugh.

_"I like this kid's thought process!" _She exclaims enthusiastically. _"This'll be good."_

_"Now Kendrick, must you really do this to them?"_ Angela asks me slightly worried.

"Treat others the way you want to be treated." Is my response as I continue to rush the ship with narrowed eyes, getting a sigh from the nicer of the two voices and loud laughter from the other. When I'm only a few yards away from the crew, one turns around and sees me.

"What the hell?!" Is all he can exclaim before I'm upon him, followed by the rest of the crew.

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><p>I clean the blood off myself in the water and put on a change of clothes. Not much was clean, but I was able to scrap together a pair of black pants, a purple T-shirt, and those sandals that you usually see characters wearing in anime and manga's. You know, like the kind Elfman wears in "Fairy Tail". I'd have to see about getting some better material later. My arm has grown back from that one pirate that managed to slice it off, the bone coming first, followed by the muscle and skin. I climbed aboard the ship, looking around for anything useful.<p>

_"Kendrick, don't you think we should talk about what just happened?"_ Angela asked.

"You mean what I did to the pirates?" I ask. "Well let's see. Uno, their captain stabbed me through the stomach in an attempt to kill me. Dos, they then left me to bleed out on a sandy beach. Und tres… You know, I don't really have a third reason." I admit with a shrug as I continue to look around.

_"Who cares why you did it? It was fucking awesome!" _Demona compliments. _"Nice job kid. Didn't know you had it in you."_

"Thanks Demona." I reply, moving my search into the pirates treasure room.

_"Aren't you at all worried about what you did?"_ Angela asks again.

"Not really, I'm just glad to be alive." I reply, pulling a sheet off what appears to be a mirror. I turn out to be right as the sheet falls away to reveal a full-body mirror. I'm slightly startled by my appearance, not used to it after so much time. My skin is deathly pale, perhaps completely white, and the same went for my hair. I was lucky in regards to the fact that it apparently hadn't grown. Though, my height certainly had. (Imagine Ken between Luffy and Zoro's height.) The only bit of color on me was the clothes that I'd… Procured, and my eyes, which were a dark red color.

"Have I always looked like this?" I wonder aloud in surprise.

_"Does it matter? Just get the ship going so we can find some more food someplace."_ Demona tells me, referring to the fact that I'm now once again hungry.

_"She's right. We can't survive on this island forever."_ Angela agrees.

"Alright, but do either of you know anything about sailing a ship like this?" I ask.

…Silence is what answers my question.

"Well… Alright. How hard could it be?" I ask, before realizing what I'd just asked. "…Shit."

Hours later, I had finally deciphered the riddle of how to operate a ship and was on my way across the sea. Where I was on my way to I had no idea, but I was definitely getting there. It was some time later, a bit after the sun went down, that I finally saw a new island on the horizon, the light from the city a beacon of hope in the dark sea. Adjusting the course as best I could, I headed towards the island post-haste. As I drift closer to the island, I realize that I have no idea how to dock this thing. I scramble about the ship, trying to pull up the sails as quickly as I can on my own. After doing that, I realize I'm still moving toward the dock faster than I probably should be.

_"How do you know how fast you're going?"_ Angela asked.

_"Yeah, it took you an hour to raise the sails."_ Demona agreed. _"What changed between now and then?"_ They prove to be correct when the boat stops shy of the actual dock. I thought about swimming there, but water makes me unusually tired for some reason now, and I don't feel confident that I could make it from that distance. Said distance being about fifteen yards… Yeah. Looking around the ship I find a grappling hook of sorts among a few chains. _"Kendrick, you should take one of those chains."_ Demona suggests. _"It could be useful if someone tries to kill us again."_

"Why don't I just use the hook?" I ask her.

_"Do you know how to fight with a hook on a piece of rope?"_ Demona asks in response to my question. _"A chain is simple enough, just swing at them and hit them with it."_ She tells me.

_"Demona is right; we need a weapon if we're going to survive."_ Angela agrees. Something she's been doing an awful lot of recently. I shrug in response, and pull a piece out of the pile, not too long of course, just something around the length of my leg. Although considering I'm a little over six feet tall, that isn't exactly something to shrug at.

I use my newly acquired hook to pull the ship closer to the dock, cringing slightly when they bump together. I disembark from the ship after I get it tied, and then take a walk into town, feeling a little unsettled at being alone like this. I see something move out of the corner of my eye and turn to see what it is, only to find nothing. Then, I see something else, and turn to look only to see nothing again. I start feeling more nervous than before, looking around wildly to see what was moving only to come up disappointed each time. I finally see something come from an alley, and almost hit it with the chain I had wrapped around my arm before I realize that it's just a cat. "Heh, you gave me a scare little guy." I tell it, breathing a sigh of relief. That quickly changes when the animal opens its mouth, and a strange, unearthly moaning and siren comes blaring out. I cover my ears and fall to the ground, writhing in pain. Someone walks out of the shadows and pets the cat, which then leaves, taking the noise with it. The person squats down next to me, tsk-ing as if I was a disappointing child.

**"Kendrick, do you really thing you could leave and that would be that?"** The guy asks, laughing slightly with a demonic voice. **"I'm afraid it's not that simple, and now you're going to have to come with me." **He tells me, maliciousness filling his voice. I don't move for a moment, then jump forward and roughly push the "man" to the ground, running back towards the dock as fast as I can. **"I love it when they run."** I hear the man say, and a moment later my arm is caught in something. I ignore it and continue to run, undeterred as my forearm is torn from my body. I trip on a loose plank on the dock and tumble into a small boat, earning me a gasp of surprise from its owner in the process.

"What are you-?!" The person exclaims in shock, the tone of it suggesting it's a female.

"No time! Just sail!" I interrupt her, pushing us away from the dock with my leg. My fellow occupant starts to say something, most likely to argue, but a stream of fire that narrowly misses us discourages further conversation as she helps us on our way by unfurling the sails and bringing out the oars. Paddling us away from the town as fast as they can.

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><p>It isn't until we've put a comfortable distance between us and the island that I allow myself to sit up and relax, if only a bit. I look over at my companion to see how she's doing, and my breath catches in my throat at the sight that greets me. She's absolutely <em>beautiful<em>. Almost my height, only a few inches shorter, short, bright orange hair, and warm, brown eyes that inexplicably draw me in. She's wearing a white and blue striped shirt along with a small orange skirt, revealing her smooth, Caucasian skin. _"Kendrick, control yourself!"_ Angela scolds me as a blush works its way into my cheeks.

_"Quiet you, the kid deserves some R&R."_ Demona rebutted. _"And here's some T&A with nowhere to run."_ She continues, her voice betraying the fact that she's smirking. I push the thought that Demona planted in my mind away, despite the red in my cheeks growing, as Angela gives a scandalized gasp in response. Then, the girl speaks up.

"You, tell me what just happened." The girl demands testily.

"Do you want the truth or a more believable lie?" I ask her with a raised eyebrow, earning myself a glare in response. "Well… How about I try the truth and see how you take it?" I ask before sighing. "To put it simply, I've recently escaped from Hell itself and am apparently being chased by the demons that reside there." I tell her. The girl doesn't say anything, deciding to stare me down instead. I just sigh again. "Ok… Let's try this then." I continue, feeling awkward. "I just escaped from a super prison and bounty hunters working for said prison are after me." I suggest, guessing that I'm in the pirate era based off the ones I'd encountered earlier.

"So, you're a pirate then?" The girl asks, cementing my thought about the time period.

"What? No, of course not." I answer her, not wanting to risk being seen as a stereotypical evil pirate.

"Alright then, a bandit." She continues. "The point is you're a criminal."

"I suppose you could technically call me one, but-" I start to defend myself, only to be interrupted by a staff bashing into my nose.

"_~Aaugh!~ _What the fuck?!" I demand, wrenching the piece of wood from the girl. "What the fuck was that for?!" I yell out in pain and anger, glaring at the girl in front of me.

"It was supposed to knock you out." She replies, trying to pull her staff from my grip. "I won't be caught dead sailing with a criminal. You're probably planning to steal my treasure!" She yells at me.

"How would I know about any treasure you have!" I argue back, throwing my hand into the air holding her at bay with the other. "In case you forgot, I literally fell into your boat! And I'm not a criminal!" I scream, my teeth taking on the appearance of a shark's without my knowledge. Then, I let out a groan as my nose snaps back into place, fixing itself. The girl gasps at the sight and stops struggling for a second, only to redouble her efforts a moment later.

"If you aren't, then why did you go to jail?" She questions me sarcastically.

"I don't know." I reply quietly with a downcast expression. "I've been asking myself that for years." The girl stops when I say this, choosing to instead look at me in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" She asks me in confusion.

"If I let your staff go, will you promise not to hit me with it again?" I ask her in return.

"Only if you actually give me my staff." The girl replies.

_"Give it to her, show that you can be trusted."_ Angela suggests.

_"Fuck that, teach this bitch a lesson."_ Demona argues. _"She attacked us, so she should know her place." _She tells me. Oh, I should probably tell you that these two sound suspiciously like the "fake" and "real" Moka's from Rosario + Vampire. Angela sounds like the pink haired one, while Demona sounds like the silver haired one. I decide to ignore Demona again, and hand the girl her weapon back, rubbing my nose to make sure everything is as it's supposed to be while I do so.

"As I was trying to say before, I'm technically not a criminal." I tell her. "I was taken what feels like a few years ago, while I was on my way to school no less. I've never done anything to deserve my punishment." I tell her.

"How old are you?" The girl asks me.

"Eighteen… I think." I answer her vaguely. "I was fifteen when they took me, and where I was taken has different rules than the rest of the world. But with how everyone in that hell hole counted days, I'd say I was there for three years." I tell her with a shrug. We become quiet as I reflect upon my life so far up to this point.

"Well, I'm sorry." The girl eventually says. "For breaking your nose that is." She elaborates.

"It's alright, certainly not the worst thing that's happened to me." I respond, smiling slightly. "How about we start over? Hi, my name's Kendrick. Or Ken if you prefer." I tell her, reaching out my hand for a handshake. The girl smiles back, taking the outstretched hand.

"Nice to meet you Kendrick, I'm Nami." She tells me.

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><p>After we'd introduced ourselves to each other, Nami decided to get some sleep. I eventually got comfortable and tried to so as well. Everything was going fine until something strange happened. I can't remember what I was dreaming about, but it was suddenly cut short by the same siren and moaning that the cat had made earlier. It didn't force me to the ground this time though, and I watched as the world around me changed. The landscape became broken and the sky bled a deep red, darkness creeping toward me from all directions. I heard laughing all around me as shadows danced at the edge of my vision, revealing grotesque and unnatural forms. Suddenly, all the noise stopped and I was sitting at a small, metal desk. A hooded figure sitting across from me.<p>

**_"Kendrick, Kendrick, Kendrick."_** What seemed like hundreds of voices said. **_"You've caused quite a stir for us down below, and we don't appreciate it."_** They continue. I didn't know what to say to that, so I remained silent. **_"We've planned for escapes like this, but then you threw us a curveball by not actually having a damning sin."_** The figure tells me. **_"However, what we didn't plan for was the device that transported you exploding. So now, it may take some time for it to be repaired. But, there's still hope for us, as we can still track your taint. We've chosen to take this opportunity to offer you a chance to turn yourself in, and make it easy for you."_** The figure says, the mouth that I can just barely make out smirking at me. **"_If you don't, then bringing you back may be a bit more… Forceful, when we finally repair the device."_** They continue, the smirk changing into a malicious smile.

_"Fuck him, let's get out of here."_ Demona suggests.

_"And just how do you suppose we do that?"_ Angela asks. _"We don't even know where _here_ is."_ She continues.

_"We got here because the retard took a nap. All he has to do is wake up."_ Demona answers her. Without saying anything in response to the two of them, or the weird hooded figure, I jump up from my chair and run off into the darkness, the voices laughing at me all the while. I charge forward, having no idea where I'm going, and hearing the sounds of… Things, chasing after me.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" I repeated to myself over and over, not daring to look back at my pursuers.

_"Wake up!"_ Demona and Angela echoed.

"Wake up!"

_"Wake up!"_

"Wake up!"

"Kendrick! Wake Up!" A new, feminine voice yells out. I gasp as my eyes shoot open to reveal Nami shaking me awake with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm up, I'm up." I tell her, calming her down.

"Are you okay?" Nami asks, sounding concerned. "You started shaking and mumbling in your sleep and I couldn't wake you up." She tells me.

"I'm fine now, it was only a nightmare." I explained before looking away. "I hope…" I mumble to myself.

"Alright, well try and keep it together. Some pirates are heading this way and I have a plan." Nami tells me as I turn around to see her smirk.

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><p>Nami's plan was simple. (But it did not include killing the Batman) Pretend to need help and offer them treasure, stealing their ship from under them in the process. I could think of numerous ways this could go wrong, but I keep them to myself.<p>

_"This plan is unnecessary. We could just kill them and take their ship."_ Demona grumbles.

_"That would be a bad idea."_ Angela tells her. _"After all, that could go wrong more ways than the one that Nami came up with can." _

_"But I'm bo~~~red!"_ Demona whines, dragging out her "O" in exasperation. _"And besides, what does it matter if the pirates kill her in the process? She tried to kill us before."_

"Nami wasn't trying to kill us, just knock us out. Besides, she seems like a good person." I counter quietly, earning myself a _'~shush~'_ from the girl in question. As the pirates draw closer, Nami sets her plan in motion. We're splayed across the edge of our boat, pretending to be dying from… Whatever sea troubles there are.

"Hey, what wrong with you? Are you almost dead?" One of them asks us.

"Ahhh…am I dreaming? We actually found someone… In this vast ocean." Nami drawls out, pretending to be seriously ill. "Please… Help us… We need water." She continues.

"We can pay you… We have treasure." I gasp out, gesturing to a chest that's on board the small ship. "Please… Help us." I continue.

"Sure, we'll help ya!" A different pirate replies with a smirk. "But, can we see that treasure chest first?" He asks.

"Take whatever you want, but please give us water first." I gasp out as they climb on board and walk up to the chest.

"What's the hurry?" Another of the three pirates asks. "We'll save ya, just going to peek at the chest first." He says, chuckling afterwards as the three of them hang over the chest.

"Since you seem to like it so much, we'll throw in the boat as well." Nami giggles out, amused at the sight of the pirates surprised faces. We watch them with mirth as we sail of on their ship, having snuck on while they were distracted by the empty chest.

"They took our ship!" One of them shouts.

"And this chest is empty!" Another continues. Suddenly, a dark cloud drifted toward them, signifying the beginning of a storm and violently wrecking the ship. I look over at Nami, who seems extremely pleased with herself.

"Nicely done, that storm helped us as well." I remark with a smile.

"Just as I expected." Nami smirks, turning to inspect the treasure that the pirates had with them.

"…Wait, you knew the storm was going to happen?" I ask her in surprise, realizing what she was implying. "How did you do that?" I ask.

"I can predict the weather. I _am_ a navigator after all." Nami replies, giving a thumbs-up. "I can navigate through anything, even the worst storms." She says with a slightly smug voice.

"Cool." I tell her, sitting down. "See Demona, she has skills too."

_"_~Bah~_ She can sail, so what?"_ Demona grumbles. _"What's she going to do in a fight?"_

_"I'm sure she can take care of herself, how else would she have made it this far_?" Angela says.

"Besides, now that I'm here I can help her." I offer.

"Are you okay?" Nami asks me, looking worried once again.

"Yeah, why?" I ask her, wondering what's wrong.

"You keep talking to yourself." Nami answered.

"Oh… Um, I'm not talking to myself." I say uncertainly. "See… I'm talking to Demona and Angela, the… Voices in my head." I tell her, knowing how it must sound.

"Oh… Okay." Nami replies, smiling nervously and looking away.

_"I don't think that was a good idea."_ Angela tells me nervously.

_"What does it matter?"_ Demona asks. _"It's not like we can do anything about it."_

"Yeah, even if we tried to hide it the truth would come out eventually." I said. "Demona's right, it's easier to tell the truth."

"So!" Nami interrupts, fairly loudly at that. "Kendrick. Why do you look like that? I assumed it was a trick of the moon last night, but now I can see that it's just how you are."

"Do you mean my paleness?" I ask her, receiving a confirming nod. "I've heard a variety of reasons. I'm pale so I don't have any protection from the sun and things like that, or perhaps it's because I haven't seen the light in three years. Which I hope is the case because then I'll gain my Caucasian skin again. Somebody once thought it was because I was in that place for no reason, so my 'purity' was showing through. But I never really liked that one." I tell her.

"Why not?" Nami asks, adjusting our course slightly.

"It makes me sound like I'm better than other people, but I'm not." I answer. "I'm…I _was_ just an average kid."

"What changed?" Nami asks me curiously.

"_~Sigh.~ _Lots of things. I look like a ghost, I have trouble sleeping, and I get tired in water." I tell her "But it's not all bad, Demona and Angela are nice company, I kept my advanced healing, and now I've met you. You're the first person I've had a conversation with in ages." I tell her with a slight smile. Nami returns it, before going back to sailing.

* * *

><p>It was a few minute later that she seemed to pick up on something specific I'd said. "Did you say you get tired in water?" She asks me.<p>

"Yeah, it's weird." I answer her. "It's never happened to me before, but touching water just… Drains me. It's scary too. I can still feel and think and stuff, but it's like I lose control of my body." I tell her. Confused because during my stay in Damnation, I'd been drowned, water boarded, and shot with a hose for hours. Yet none of that stuff affected me like it has been over the past day back in the mortal realm.

"It sounds to me like you ate a Devil Fruit." Nami says, looking interested.

"What's a Devil Fruit?" I ask her.

"I've only heard stories about them, but Devil fruits are supposed to give the person who eats it special powers." Nami explains. "It takes away your ability to swim, however, because the sea hates you for it."

"What do they look like?" I ask her, wondering if one of the fruits I'd eaten on the island was a Devil Fruit.

"I don't know. As I said I've only heard stories, I've never actually seen one in person." Nami tells me. "Or anyone who has supposedly eaten one either." She continues.

"There were some fruits on the island I woke up on." I tell her. "I wonder what it did, if I actually ate one." I wonder out loud.

"Your healing?" Nami offers.

"No, I've always been able to do that." I explain. "They did it to us so the… Punishments would always hurt. No scar tissue to numb the pain." I tell her with a downcast expression. Nami doesn't say anything, but she suddenly seems uncomfortable. I don't think much of it though. I wouldn't like to hear about someone else being tortured either.

* * *

><p>I don't know how long it took, probably another couple days. But we eventually reached another island. Seeing it in the distance made me realize that I still didn't know where I was. "Hey Nami, where are we?" I ask her. "I'm not from here." I elaborate.<p>

"How do you not know where you are?" Nami asks in confusion, before shrugging it off and explaining anyway. "We're in the East Blue, heading to Orange Town." She tells me.

"Oh, the East Blue… And where exactly is that?" I ask, receiving a strange look from Nami in response to my question. Then, Nami explains how the world was split into four seas. The North Blue, South Blue, East Blue, and West Blue. The different oceans were split into these sections because of the Grand Line and the Red Line, which ran perpendicular to each other. The Red Line is a large continent that spans the planet, the only sizable land mass beyond islands in the world. The Grand Line is apparently some kind of ocean current that is supposed to be very dangerous, wrapping around the world in the other direction. The whole thing sounded crazy to me, but I accept it. After spending three years in Damnation, it's hard not to accept the fact of other worlds and dimensions.

"This is all basic knowledge for travelers, how do you not know this?" Nami asks me when she finishes explaining.

"Well, using what you've just told me I've come to the conclusion that I'm in a different universe than my old home." I answer her. "Because where I come from, there are _seven_ continents, and _seven_ seas." I elaborate.

"…Sure." Nami says hesitantly, before letting the conversation die. A few hours later, we dock at the island and go to explore the town, myself pulling my chain behind me, seeing demolished buildings everywhere.

"Looks like they're remodeling the place." I joke, turning in a circle to look at all the buildings.

"No, that would be the work of Buggy the Clown." Nami tells me, sounding deathly serious. "He attacked the island and set up his base here." She says.

"Oh, so why did we come here?" I ask her in confusion. "Are we going to save the people here?"

"Buggy has something that I need, so I'm going to steal it." Nami explains. "I have to go alone to be safe. Can you take care of yourself for a while?" She asks me.

"Sure." I answer with a shrug. "Good luck, and be careful." I tell her. Nami nods in response, before running off into the village.

_"…And just like that we're alone again."_ Demona remarks.

"Not completely, we still have each other." I counter. Demona grunts in response.

_"Let's see if we can find anything useful, like food."_ Angela suggests, prompting me to start moving.

* * *

><p>I don't know how long I was looking, but eventually I grew tired of lugging the heavy chain around and dropped it on the ground, inciting various protests from Demona. <em>"What are we supposed to do if we're attacked?"<em> She demanded. _"Use our _hands_?"_

"Why not? It worked before." I reply. "Why are you getting so worked up about it?" I ask her.

_"…I thought it would be cool."_ She answers, and I could hear the pout in her voice.

"You're right, it would be cool." I agree. "But it's also highly inconvenient to use." I explain.

_"So what are we going to do?"_ Angela asked. _"With our hands I mean. The only fighting style we know is what you learned during your run-ins with the bullies from before you died."_

"I picked up some things from Benoit while he was serving his time in Damnation, how hard could it be to copy some of his old wrestling moves?" I ask her.

_"Great, so we have the combined fighting style of improved fighting and watching a sport made up of actors."_ Demona groans out, referring to how she believes that wrestling is just made up for entertainment. _"I miss the chain already." _It was then that we hear a large explosion. Worried for Nami, I run in the direction we heard it come from and see her run into a building. I run after her and notice some kid fighting in the street, giving a beat down to some shady looking guys. Succeeding in knocking them all out.

"Wow! You're really strong!" Nami exclaims from a balcony of the building after the kid was done. "You beat those guys who had swords with your bare-hands!"

"Who are you anyway?" The kid asks her as I walk closer to them.

"I'm a thief that steals from pirates." Nami introduces herself, jumping down into the street. "My name is Nami."

"What, you're not going to break his nose?" I ask her, feigning confusion. "I thought that's how you greeted people?" I continue, teasing her about how she greeted me.

"Only people who almost get me killed!" Nami growls out. Then the kid starts laughing.

"You guys are funny." The boy laughs out. Now that I'm closer to him, I notice what the kid looks like. He's a little shorter than myself and Nami, with lots of dark hair hidden under the straw hat he's wearing. He has on a red, sleeveless vest and what looks like jeans rolled up to be shorts. He has a scar under his left eye, and seems pretty thin for somebody who just knocked out a group of men. Although, looks can be deceiving.

"Hey there, I'm Kendrick." I introduce myself. "What's your story?" I ask him.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be King of the Pirates." He tells me with a wide grin.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright people, so as told before, I've adopted this story with permission from <span>kta250298<span>. The reason being that after reading their story, and how they discontinued it, I saw how good it was and wished for it to be continued. So, I'm continuing it for them. Unfortunately, for those of you who've read the first version posted by them, you may notice a few changes that will be made. Such as the fact that there will be no Zane in this. Sorry people, but because kta250298 pretty much made a re-write where Zane is Ken's other personality, I'm just not gonna include him. So, that means that Ken may actually be a part of the Usopp arc. Yay! More changes in this story include: Ken eating the Devil Fruit! Now, can any of you guess what the Devil Fruit's power is? I'll give you a hint. Its color signifies what it does.**

**Not only that, but also the fact of later changes in the story, and the fact that it may take longer for other demons to catch up to him. Since I'm not very well versed in writing out stories where there's a running theme throughout it, instead I'm going to make it so that when Ken faces off against the demons from his past, (literally) it's going to be in his own "Arc."**

**Now, another thing about this story. Yes, it will be a Ken x Nami fanfiction. Based off what kta250298 wrote in their version, that's the direction that I saw the story going in, so that's the way that I'm going to make it go in. There will _NOT_be any harems in this, nor will there be any double couples. (Aka Ken/Nami/Someone else) It will only include single couples.**

**Finally, I'd like to say this to all of you who've read this far, and also read my other stories. Don't worry! I've been getting quite a few PM's asking about my other stories, and what's happening with them. So I'm going to address that here (even though it's on my bio.) I _will_ continue them. It's just that with how my brain works, I could be writing one story for a few minutes, before thinking of an idea for another story and starting on it. That then leads to me working on that specific story for the rest of the day. Take my Danny Phantom/Teen Titans crossovers for example. I've got the next chapters for both "A Phantom of the Titans" as well as "The Mirror of Notnef" almost completed. But because all these other ideas continue to pop up for other stories, I don't have the ideas that I need for those stories.**

**Anyways, thanks for everyone who's read down to this point, and I hope to see you all soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Meet Buggy, the Clown Prince of- Oops, Wrong Clown**

* * *

><p>After Luffy complained to us about being hungry, Nami offered to find him some food. We eventually found an empty house that had non-rotten food in it and Nami left to get it ready to eat, leaving me and Luffy alone. "So, why do you want to become the King of the Pirates?" I ask him, intrigued.<p>

"It's been my dream since I was a kid." Luffy answers, taking off his straw hat to look at it. "I made a promise to the person that gave me this hat, it's my treasure." He tells me.

"I can respect that." I remark. "It's good to have a dream. I used to have one as well." I tell him, looking towards the ceiling in thought.

"Really? What is it?" Luffy asks me, sounding interested.

"Well, it's not my dream anymore, but I always wanted to be known for something." I tell him. "A legacy of some kind, something someone can look at and say 'Hey, that thing there, Kendrick Austin did that.'"

"Did you do it?" Luffy asks me with wide eyes. "Achieve your dream?"

"No. I didn't." I answer him somberly. "My dream was taken from me. It's been made so that I'm constantly hunted. So it's too dangerous for people to know of me."

"You shouldn't be afraid to die for your dreams!" Luffy exclaims. "If you are, you'll never succeed!"

"I'm not afraid to die for my dream." I defend myself, turning to look him in the eyes. "I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid of what happens after that. There are places that make you beg for death, but deny it to you, and I'll be damned if I'm forced back there!" I exclaim with determination. Luffy doesn't say anything, looking conflicted about something. "But it doesn't matter." I continue, switching back to being happy. "I have a new dream, the one thing I've wanted all these years."

"What's that?" Luffy asks me, sounding intrigued once again.

"A family." I answer him. "I want a family. People that I can trust, and love, and that will accept me as their own. No matter what or who I am."

"That's a good dream too." Luffy says with his grin which I swear is trademarked to him. "Family is important."

"Here we go." Nami says, suddenly walking up the stairs and into the room we were sitting in.

"Awesome, I'm starving!" Luffy exclaims, eyes lighting up at the sight of all the food.

"Good job Nami, let's dig in." I compliment, grabbing a piece of mutton that she placed at the table.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for the food to disappear, the combined efforts of Luffy and me making short work of it. "You two are inhuman!" Nami exclaims once we finish. "How is it possible to eat that much food so fast?!"<p>

"What can I say, we were hungry." I answer with a shrug.

"Hey, do either of you know a navigator?" Luffy asks. "I need one for my crew."

"Who's in your crew already?" I ask back. "Shouldn't a navigator be the first person you get?"

"It only me and one other person, I just started my journey." Luffy answers with a slight smile.

"Well, Nami here is an amazing navigator." I tell him. "What do you think Nami, should we join him and his friend?" I ask, slightly pondering the thought myself.

"No! I refuse to join a pirate crew!" Nami yells, surprising me and Luffy at her outburst. "The things I hate most in this world are pirates! I only like money and tangerines!"

"What am I, chopped liver?" I ask her sarcastically.

"I barely know you, we just met!" Nami exclaims.

"So? I just met Luffy and I already like him." I respond with a shrug, gesturing to the boy in question. "You two are the only people I know in this entire world."

_"What about us?"_ Angela and Demona demand almost heatedly.

_You two go without saying, you're voices in my head._ I think to them.

"Hey, come on, be our navigator." Luffy pesters her.

"You think I'm crazy?" Nami asks. "Shut up you dumb pirate!" Nami turns away from us, but then quickly turns back looking happy about something. "Actually, on second thought I will join you guys." She says. "But on one condition."

"What is it?" Luffy asks, excited at the prospect of having a navigator.

"You have to come with me to Buggy's base." Nami answers with a slight smile.

"Ok, let's go." Luffy replies, starting to leave the house. "Where is it?"

"Ah…hang on a second. I've got one more thing to prepare." Nami says, looking surprised at Luffy's immediate acceptance of the condition.

"What's the rope for?" I ask, following them out the door and wondering why it is that Nami had grabbed a rope from the house.

"It's just a rope, you don't need to worry about it." Nami replies, waving me off.

* * *

><p><em>Apparently she was lying.<em> I think dryly.

_"You think?"_ Demona said sarcastically. During the trip to Buggy's hideout, Nami had tied Luffy and me together. We struggled to get out, or at least I did, Luffy didn't seem that bothered, but couldn't move enough. She dragged us to Buggy himself and turned us over to him, saying we were her bosses and that she was tired of working for us. Looking at Buggy, I couldn't tell whether I should be intimidated or amused. He had an impressive stature, decked out in expensive looking clothes. But the intended effect was ruined somewhat by the parade of colors and the clown makeup on his face. Not to mention his big red nose. Buggy immediately took a liking to Nami, locking us in a cage before starting a party to celebrate his new crew member. Food and drinks seemingly appeared from nowhere in large amounts, while Luffy and I were stuck with hardly enough room to sit up, let alone stand.

"Oh man, that looks tasty." Luffy remarks, looking at the food and drinks of the party.

"I know it does, but focus." I tell him. "We need to find a way out."

"If we weren't tied together, I could break the cage." Luffy replies.

"…Maybe we still can." I say, thinking of a plan. "But we'll need to work together."

_"It's not going to work."_ Demona says.

_"Be quiet, at least he's thinking of something."_ Angela scolds.

"Are you so desperate that you'll work with a pirate?" Nami asks, suddenly crouching next to our cage. "Not that I'm surprised, you are a criminal as well after all."

"Nami, what the hell?!" I demand angrily. "Why did you hand us over to a madman like this?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep them drinking until they're all knocked out." Nami explains with a smirk. "Then I'll steal all their stuff and let you out, and we can go our separate ways."

"Can you get us some food at least?" Luffy asks. Nami leaves and comes back with some pieces of meat a few minutes later, feeding us. "You're a nice person." Luffy decides between bites. "I guess I'll let you join our crew."

"I don't want to, you idiot!" Nami yells out before walking away angrily.

"Luffy, put your feet on the bars." I instruct him, doing the same myself. "We'll push against each other and break them."

"Good idea." Luffy compliments, getting into position.

"On three." I say. "One…two…three!" We force our backs against one another, struggling to break out of our tiny prison. I feel something start to give around the same time my leg starts to hurt, realizing too late that those facts were related to each other. I cry out bloody murder as my left shin cracks and splinters out of my leg. Without my counter-balance, all of Luffy's force exploded against me and presses me against the side of the cage, dislocating my left shoulder in the process.

_"I told you it wouldn't work."_ Demona mocks.

_"Don't be like that!"_ Angela scolds her once again. _"Kendrick is in pain right now!"_

"What happened?" Luffy asks. "Are you alright?"

"No! My fucking leg broke!" I growl out, trying to fight the pain. "And you fucked up my arm."

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Luffy exclaims, defending himself.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." I sigh out. "I was just in pain there for a minute. Clouded my judgment you know? But now I'm out of ideas."

"_~Bwahahaha!~ _Trying to escape are you?" A voice laughs out. We look out the bars and see Buggy standing next to us, drink in hand. "Unfortunately for you, your fate has already been decided." He tells us, smiling evilly.

"Oh, you're going to let us go?" Luffy asks him.

"Yeah I'm letting you go… You think I'm stupid?!" Buggy yells out. "Boys! Prepare the Buggy Ball!" He exclaims with glee. His crew cheers and wheels out a cannon. Loading it with a red ball that had Buggy's pirate mark on it. They aim it at a nearby house and fire it, resulting in a cataclysmic explosion that demolishes _at least_ ten houses in a row.

_"Wow, that's awesome."_ Demona remarks.

"_Awesome?!"_ Angela repeats angrily. _"Those people's homes were destroyed! How is that 'awesome'?!" _I hear Luffy gasp in shock as I gasp in pain, my shin resetting itself with a sickening crack and my shoulder popping back into place.

"The power is so great, it can wipe out a whole village in a single shot! This and my Devil Fruit powers will assure my success on the Grand Line!" Buggy brags while his crew aims the cannon at the two of us, stuck in our cage. "Now, shoot the cannon Nami! And swear upon this your loyalty and sincerity of the desire to rule the world with me! Get rid of your old bosses once and for all!" Nami looks shocked, and starts sweating nervously.

"N-No! I don't think that's necessary!" She exclaims, clearly not wanting to do it. "More importantly… Ah, yes! Drink! Let's drink! Let's just ignore those two!" Nami suggests, trying to take their attention off us.

"Kill them." Buggy orders with finality, a crazed look on his face. Nami gasps in surprise while Buggy's crew cheers her on to kill us. She stands still, seemingly afraid to move as she makes her decision. The hand that held the matches trembling profusely while the rest of her stood completely still.

"Your hand is shaking." Luffy remarks with a surprisingly serious face. "A pirate on the seas swears an oath to themselves, and you lack the strength for that oath."

"Pirate oath. I wonder what it is… Killing innocent people like insects?" Nami responds. "Is that the pirate's oath?"

"No, it's not." Luffy answers. "It's the idea of being strong enough to risk your life!" He exclaims.

_"The kid has some good ideals."_ Demona remarks in surprise. Apparently tired of waiting, a pirate walks up to Nami and takes the matches from her. Lighting the cannon himself, he earns a whack from Nami's staff for his trouble and was knocked unconscious.

"Nami, you idiot! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Buggy demands. "I gave you the honor of lighting the cannon's fuse because you're supposed to be my crew member!"

"Nami! You're saving us!" I exclaim, happy she changed her mind.

"Shut up you idiot! I didn't do it to save you. I just won't allow myself to become anything like an evil pirate!" Nami shouts at me. "Pirates stole the life of someone precious to me. I hate pirates more than anything!"

"So that's why you don't like pirates." Luffy remarks.

"I wouldn't either." I agree with her. "But we have more pressing matters right now, like the fact the fuse is still burning!" I yell at her in slight fear, making her gasp and turn to the fuse in question.

"Crap!" Luffy shouts out. "We're going to die!"

_"He might, but we'll make it."_ Demona says.

_"We can't just let him die, we have to do something."_ Angela says, sounding concerned for Luffy.

"Quick, Luffy, turn us around!" I order him, moving us so I'm between Luffy and the cannon.

"Now what!" He asks hurriedly, assuming I have a plan.

"Now we hope my body protects you from the blast." I tell him.

_"I want to go on record that I think this is a terrible idea."_ Demona states with a deadpan voice.

"…Wait, what?!" Luffy exclaims, realizing what I'm doing. "Why would you do that?! Turn us back around!" He yells.

"No, I'm doing this to protect you!" I reply. "The cannon won't do anything permanent to me, but it'll obliterate you. If I do this then you might have a chance to survive."

"What about your dream?" Luffy argues. "You can't give it up now!"

"I'm not!" I argue back. "I told you, the cannon can't kill me!"

"…Are you sure?" Luffy asks me slightly skeptical.

"Yes." I answer him before turning back to look at the cannon. "I think." I mutter to myself.

"Alright, I'll trust you." Luffy relents. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it." I reply, getting comfortable. Hey, if I'm going to be in excruciating pain, I'd rather be in a comfortable position as I am, that way it doesn't hurt more than it already will. So I close my eyes, and wait for the blast to come. After a few seconds, nothing happens. I risk a peek, and see Nami with her hands around the whisk, being charged down my some pirates. "Nami!" I shout at her. "Look out!" Right before they get to her, the pirates are repelled by someone wielding swords.

"Just how many of you are charging one girl?" The figure asks, forcing the pirates back.

"Zoro!" Luffy exclaims.

"Did you get hurt?" The Zoro guy asks Nami.

"I'm… I'm alright." She replies, surprised.

"Thank goodness, you actually found this place." Luffy says to Zoro, grinning. "Get us outta this, quick."

"You! Is this your idea of fun?" Zoro asks Luffy slightly exasperated. "You get caught by a bird and then get carried away by it. And now when I finally find you, you're locked in a cage. Stupid!" Zoro stops looking past me, and turned his focus to me. "Who's the other guy?" He asks Luffy. "Did you rope him into joining you as well?"

"Unless he convinces Nami he hasn't." I reply. "I'm sticking with her." Nami gets a sheepish and guilty look on her face when I say that, turning away from us.

"Hey… Did that kid just say Zoro?" One of the pirates asks.

"The pirate hunter? Why is he talking to a thief?" Another continues.

"You're defiantly Zoro." Buggy confirms. "Are you aiming for my head?"

"No, I've got no interest in that." Zoro answers, turning around to starts walking towards us after repelling the pirates that were charging Nami. "I'm no longer a pirate hunter, I've quit."

"But I have some interest. If I kill you then my name will become even more famous." Buggy threatens.

"If you don't want to die, then just leave me alone." Zoro tells Buggy calmly but annoyed, looking over his shoulder at the pirate captain.

"Ooh, kill him Captain!" One of the pirates cheers.

"If you don't show your true skills, you'll soon be covered in blood!" Buggy cries out, charging Zoro with large knifes between the fingers of his left hand, while holding a larger knife-like sword in his right.

"Fine, if that's what you want." Zoro growls out, suddenly wielding three swords by carrying one between his teeth. With a seemingly effortless attack, Zoro rushes past Buggy and leaves him in pieces. Literally. The clown captain's left arm and leg were cut off, and his hip was sliced in two. His body collapsing to the ground, still as death.

"That… Was anticlimactic." I remark.

"Yeah, and he was super easy to beat as well." Luffy agrees. But I continue to look at Buggy's body, confused.

_That was too easy for all the hype he played up._ I think. _There must be something we're missing._

_"Or it's something he's missing."_ Demona remarks. _"Look closer."_

"I don't see any… Blood?" I realize. "Why isn't he bleeding?" I ask myself. Then, Buggy's crew starts laughing as if someone told a joke, one that we don't get. "Zoro, be careful!" I call out. "Something's wrong here, he's not bleeding!" Zoro turns to see what I'm talking about, barely having enough time to deflect the knife that flew at him.

"What the hell!" He exclaims. "The hand… Is floating in the air!" Zoro's right. Holding the knife was a Mr. Thing style severed hand. It was hovering in the air just above the swordsman, drifting about lazily.

"The Chop Chop Fruit." A voice says, turning out to be Buggy as he pieces himself back together. "That's the name of the Devil fruit I've eaten! No matter how many times you slice me up, I can just piece myself back together!" he exclaims.

"That guy's a monster!" Luffy yells out.

"You red-nosed asshole!" I shout at him. "That was a dirty trick you tried to pull!"

_"But a smart one."_ Demona says. _"We'll have to remember it for later."_

_"Hopefully we won't have to resort to such tactics"_ Angelica remarks. Suddenly, everyone becomes deathly silent, Buggy looking enraged about something.

"How dare you?!" Buggy shouts at me. Launching one of his knifes. Unable to dodge it, the blade sinks into my neck with ease. I gag and splutter as blood starts to flow from my wound. It would be a simple heal, but the knife has to be taken out first.

_"Kendrick! Try not to move too much. Take deep, slow breaths and don't panic."_ Angela instructs, sounding slightly scared.

"Kendrick!" Luffy exclaims in surprise and anger before turning to face the clown pirate. "I swear, I'm going to take you down Buggy!"

"_~Puhahahahahaha!~ _You're going to take me down?" Buggy laughs out. "You're hilarious. You three are going to die right here on the spot! Just like your friend there." All of a sudden, Luffy starts laughing, something Buggy picks up on. "So, you have the will to die Straw-Hat?" Buggy mocks. "And just exactly how do you plan to take me down in this situation? Laugh at him boys!"

"Run away!" Luffy orders. "Zoro!"

"What?" Zoro exclaims, confused.

"Your friend came to rescue you, but you're telling him to run away? What about you?" Nami asks Luffy. Luffy doesn't say anything, but does something to convey a message to Zoro. The swordsman smiles, before running towards the cannon. Deflecting attacks from Buggy on his way. Once he makes it there, he grabs the barrel and flips it over, aiming it at Buggy and his men.

"He pointed the cannon in our direction!" The pirates exclaim.

"That thing still has a Buggy Ball in it!" The clown captain shouts in fear. Zoro and Nami re-light the cannon, and Buggy and his crew disappear amongst the resulting smoke and debris.

"This is a good time to go." Zoro decides, turning to Nami. "Who are you anyways?

"I-I'm a thief." She answers with a slight stutter.

"What about him?" Zoro asks, pointing to my still body, unaware that I was… Well, _aware_, of everything being said.

"He… Was a friend I suppose." Nami answers with a downcast voice. "I didn't want it to go like this, both of them were supposed to make it."

"There's no time to be sad, we need to move." Luffy tells her, sending a glance at my form none the less. "We're going to have to mourn later."

"Let's go then." Zoro says, grabbing the cage and slowly lifting it over his shoulder.

"How…?" Nami utters, amazed at the feat of strength.

"Let's get out of here." Zoro says, running off with us slung over his shoulder.

* * *

><p>A couple of minutes later Zoro decides to stop, thinking that we're far enough away from where Buggy's crew was before they were blown up… At least to our knowledge. "We escaped, but this cage is a problem." Luffy says. "Zoro, can you cut it open?"<p>

"No, the bars are made of steel." Zoro answers. "But I can untie you." He tells Luffy. The moment the rope fall away, my hands fly up and pull the blade from my throat. Zoro and Luffy gasping in surprise while I cough up the blood that had been filling my lungs, rubbing my sore neck.

"Kendrick! You're alive!" Luffy exclaims happily.

"_~cough, cough-cough~ _Yep, I sure am. _~cough~_" I struggle to get out.

"How is that possible?" Zoro wonders aloud.

"It was part of my punishment, but now it's my saving grace." I answer him. "It's ironic really." I admit with a dry smile.

"I'm just glad you're alive." Luffy says with a grin.

"I am too." I reply, grinning back.

"What's up with this dog?" Zoro suddenly asks, getting away from the topic of my non-death. Luffy and I turn to where he's facing, and see that there is in fact a dog. Sitting still and looking straight ahead like a statue. It had light white fur and was fairly small.

"Is it really a dog?" Luffy asks. "It's not moving at all."

"What the dog does is its business." Zoro replies. "Right now you've got to think of a way out of that cage."

"I wonder if he's dead." Luffy remarks, ignoring Zoro's sentence and poking the dog in the eye. In retaliation, the dog bites Luffy on his nose, before latching onto his hand.

_"That's what he gets for messing with it."_ Demona laughs.

_"Don't be mean."_ Angela scolds her.

"Stupid dog, let me go!" Luffy cries, struggling to get the dog off of him.

"Luffy, stop playing around!" Zoro yells at him.

"Look at you guys." Nami says, catching up with us. "Not to criticize, but is the middle of the street really the best hiding place you could find?"

"Nami!" I exclaim. "You came back!"

_"I don't know why you're still happy to see her. She almost killed us about three times now." _Demona remarks.

_"Kendrick's just more forgiving that you."_ Angela states. _"But Demona does have a point. Perhaps you should be careful around her."_

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me." She says, throwing something on the ground. "I should be shocked at seeing you alive, but after seeing you grow back an arm I'm not really that surprised." She tells me with a shrug.

"The key! You stole the key to the cage!" Luffy cheers.

"Yeah, but I had to leave behind the map and treasure." Nami huffs out, disappointed.

"This is great, we can finally get out of here." I say. But my joy is quickly cut short when the dog eats the key. For a moment, everyone is too shocked to do anything. Then me and Luffy grab the dog and shake him, trying to get him to cough up the key. "Stupid dog! Cough it up! Cough it up!" I yell at him.

"Hey, you brats!" A voice calls out to us. "Don't pick on Shushu!" We look in the direction it came from to see an older man in leather armor walking toward us, a spear on his back.

"Who're you?" Zoro asks him.

"Who am I?" The man asks. "I'm the mayor of this town, that's who!"

"Can you help us? We're trapped in the cage and the dog ate the key." I ask him, also explaining to him why we were shaking the dog.

"Sorry, but I'm not doing anything to hurt Shushu." The mayor tells us. "You'll have to find another way out."

"Why's he the only one left in town?" Luffy asks the mayor.

"He's watching the shop." The mayor explains. "I'm just here to feed him."

"So he's a guard dog for a pet food store…" Zoro remarks as the mayor comes back out with food for Shushu, before sitting on the steps leading into the shop.

"A good friend of mine owned this store, about ten years ago he and Shushu opened this little shop." The mayor continues. "They've got lots of good memories, and so do I. See these bruises? He's been fighting with the pirates to protect his store." He tells us, gesturing to the bruises and scratches that litter the dog.

_"Scrappy little mutt."_ Demona remarks.

_"I bet whoever owns him is proud."_ Angela agrees.

"I'm sure this shop means a lot to his master, but this is just cruel." Nami says. "Is his owner at the refugee center with the others?"

"No, he's not. He got sick and died." The mayor replies with a downcast expression. "He went to the hospital three months ago, and ended up passing on there."

"So he's been waiting for his master all this time?" I ask the mayor, feeling sorry for Shushu.

_"Oh, the poor thing."_ Angela remarks, sounding upset.

"That's what everybody says, but that's not what I think." The mayor answers me, getting everyone's attention. "He's a smart dog. I think he knows his master is dead."

"So why does he still guard the store?" Nami asks.

"I think he does because it's all he has left of his beloved master." The mayor replies to her question. "It's his treasure."

"It's just like your hat, Luffy." I remark, turning to the straw hat wearing boy next to me.

"Yeah, it is." He responds, looking at the dog with a strange facial expression.

"I've been trying to get him to the shelter, but he won't leave this spot." The mayor continues with a sigh. "He'd rather starve to death than leave his post." Suddenly, a monstrous roar fills the air, scaring Nami and the mayor.

"What the hell was that?!" Nami screams at him.

"I-it must be Mohji the Beast Tamer! Run!" The mayor shouts at her. Nami and the mayor run off, leaving Luffy, Zoro and me by ourselves. Soon after the two run and hide, a strange looking man riding a lion walks up to us. The guy has on some kind of fur hat and shirt, making him look like some sort of furry.

"Well, what have we here…?" The man asks. "I am Mohji the Beast Tamer, First Mate of Captain Buggy, and I have been sent to defeat Roronoa Zoro and his comrades!" He exclaims. In response, Zoro grips his blades while Luffy tenses up.

"Why are you wearing such a stupid hat?" I ask the guy, getting an idiotic idea.

_"…_This_ is stupid."_ Demona argues against my plan.

_"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Demona here, this doesn't seem like a good idea."_ Angela agrees.

"What?! This is my natural hair!" Mohji yells at me, enraged.

"Oh, so did your mom fuck a bear?" I ask him, sounding innocent. "Or was it your dad?" Mohji and his lion freeze, processing what I asked. It finally makes it through their minds, and they both give me a look of death. Though, compared to the permanent scowls that were on some of the demons in Damnation, it's mild.

"Why you-!" Mohji cries out. "Richie! Kill him!" I push Luffy and myself against the edge of the cage as Mohji's lion brings his paw down on it, but there isn't enough room and the beast catches me by the leg. He slams me against the ground a few times before flicking me away so that I skip across the ground. I finally come to a stop a few houses away, most of my bones broken and my ribs tearing through my lungs.

"Kendrick!" A voice exclaims, turning out to be Nami when I slowly turn my head to face her.

"Hey there." I struggle to get out, my lungs useless at the moment.

"Kid, don't talk!" The mayor orders me. "I'll go get the doctor and-"

"Don't." I interrupt him, sounding clearer now that my ribs re-adjusted enough for my lungs to close up. "I'll be ok."

"Ok?!" Nami yells at me. "Your arm is bent the wrong way and your leg is sticking out your knee!" She continues, only for my arm to snap back into place as my bone sinks back into my thigh at that moment. I turn over and cough up some blood as I hesitantly stand, most of the damage fixed.

"See? Told you I'd be fine." I tell them, turning to look at them. Instead of answering, the mayor faints while Nami looks a little green. Her face even turning a slight green color. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" I ask her, reaching up to wipe my mouth. I'm surprised to not feel my lips, but my hair. I rub around, confused, before I realize that I'm touching the back of my head, my head twisted around from its natural place. The skin around my neck twists back around, and my head finally snaps back around. I stumble a bit from the sudden shift in perspective, but then turned around to find that Nami has fainted as well.

_"I hope they're ok."_ Angela remarks, worried. With a sigh I bend down and picked them up, one over each shoulder, and carry them back to Zoro and Luffy. When I get there, they appeared to be waiting for us, the Mohji guy already gone.

"I'm guessing you guys beat Mohji." I say, setting Nami and the mayor down carefully.

"Yeah, it was real easy too." Luffy remarks with a grin.

"Once we defeated his lion, he quickly gave up." Zoro continues.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to let him go?" I ask them. "What if he tells Buggy what-" Before I can finish, a massive explosion knocks us to the ground. The pet shop and surrounding buildings are torn to splinters, and Shushu is launched into my gut. I sit up and look around to see if everyone is ok, only to notice that the still unconscious Nami and mayor are about to be crushed by a section of wall that's about to fall on them. I rush over and catch it just as it's about to hit them, almost buckling beneath the weight.

"Nami! Mayor! It would be a good idea to wake up now!" I yell at them.

_"Stop putting us in these situations!"_ Demona screams in anger at me. _"I'm tired of getting hurt today!"_

_"Kendrick's doing a noble thing, something you wouldn't understand."_ Angela argues back. _"These are his only friend. We can't let them get hurt."_

_"We can though, it would be really easy!"_ Demona counters, being ignored by myself and Angela. Nami and the mayor start to wake up at that moment, looking around in confusion until they noticed their predicament. They quickly crawl out from under the wall, scared out of their minds. With a mighty heave, I lift the wall further off the ground, diving to the ground out of the way as it comes crashing down. I pant in exhaustion, and turn around, inspecting the damage. Pieces of houses lay strewn about, the pet shop looking no different from any other wreckage except for Shushu sitting before it. I stand, watching as the dog barks in misery at having his treasure taken from him. I turn to look at the others, Nami and the mayor looking aghast while Luffy looks determined about something.

"Stupid pirates, destroying everything precious to others." Nami says, before turning towards Luffy and Zoro. "Why don't you all just go to Hell?!" I run to Nami and grab her, stopping her from attacking Zoro and Luffy. "Let go of me!" Nami orders, hitting me in the shoulder in an attempt to get by. "I won't let these pirates get away with this." She yells out.

"Neither will we, right Luffy?" I ask the straw hat wearing teen, not letting go of the girl.

"That's right." Luffy answers with a determined face. Nami stops struggling, so I let her go and walk towards Luffy.

"This is just so miserable! My town is being destroyed, and I'm sitting here doing nothing about it!" The mayor suddenly exclaims. "Well no more! We worked hard to build this village up from nothing, and I won't stand around any longer!"

"Wait, calm down mayor!" Nami yells at him.

"To a real man, there are some fights that can't be avoided!" The mayor continues, sounding suspiciously like Elfman from Fairy Tail for a second. "This town and its citizens are my treasures! I'm the mayor, and I won't let this travesty go on any longer!"

_"The guy's got guts, I'll give him that."_ Demona remarks.

_"He must care a lot about his people to fight like this for them."_ Angela continues.

"Won't you join us?" Luffy asks Nami. "You need his map don't you?"

"…I'm not going to become a pirate." Nami answers him, and before he can protest shakes his hand. "Rather than saying we're _partners_, let's say we're _cooperating_. Working together to achieve our goals." She explains.

"What about me?" I ask her, feeling a bit left out.

"I suppose you'd be useful to keep around some more." Nami says with a smirk. "So you can stay."

_"I can't wait to make her ours."_ Demona coos, filling my head with devious thoughts which make me blush a dark red.

"_You stop that!"_ Angela orders. _"I won't have you influencing Kendrick in such a way."_

_"Don't be like that, I know you think she's cute as well."_ Demona remarks mirthfully.

_"Perhaps, but your plans are far too uncouth."_ Angela counters. _"That kind of relationship should nurtured and consensual, not forced like some kind of… Animal!"_

"Then we better get going, shouldn't we?" I ask, trying to ignore both of them and turning to the pet store and the dog sitting in front of it. "What about you Shushu? Want in on this as well?" I ask, Shushu barking in response, before he catches up with us, our motley crew heading toward Buggy's.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Nami asks.

"We're going to kick Buggy's ass." Luffy answers with his trademark grin.

* * *

><p>We return to Buggy's hideout, stopping outside the doors. "You guys can fight, but I'm going to go steal the treasure and map." Nami tells us.<p>

"Alright, be careful." I tell her, crouching low to the ground and facing the doors that lead into Buggy's base of operations.

"What are you doing?" Zoro asks, wrapping a bandana around his head.

"Getting us in." I answer, taking a deep breath and charging towards the door. I bore down on the entrance, crashing into the two large doors with all my might. I feel my shoulder crack, but the doors give way none the less and fly open. Buggy and his crew look at us, surprised at our entrance. The others catch up as my shoulder mends itself, and we walk into the compound.

"What are you doing here?!" Buggy demands, recovering quickly. "You're all supposed to be dead!"

"Did you really think a simple neck wound was going to do me in?" I laugh at him.

"I've kept my promise, and came to beat you!" Luffy declares.

"Have you now?" Buggy asks, turning a confused look to the mayor and Shushu. "Why is there an old guy and a dog accompanying you?"

"We're here because you've trampled over our treasure for too long!" The mayor yells at Buggy, Shushu barking in agreement. "My name is Boodle, and I won't let you hurt this town any longer!"

"What an idiot!" Buggy laughs at the mayor. "The word 'treasure' brings to mind the thoughts of gold, silver and jewels. The owner has to have some sense of dignity and pride about owning it before calling it a treasure! The village is your treasure? What a bunch of meaningless words!"

"How dare you say that about their home?!" I roar, charging Buggy's crew.

_"I hope this won't become a trigger for him."_ Demona sighs. With that, the battle commences. I ram full-force into the first pirate in my way, flipping him over my shoulder undeterred and punching the next one in the face. Keeping my flow going I slide between the legs of another pirate and grab them, spinning him around before throwing him into the crowd. I dodge a sword swipe and upper-cut the offender, laying him out. I donkey-kick a pirate behind me and catch the arm of a different one that swings at me, flipping him onto the ground.

At this point a small group has gathered around me, the leftovers fighting the combined might of Mayor Boodle and Shushu. I can see Zoro fighting a strange-looking swordsman on a unicycle while Luffy goes after Buggy himself. It's then I hear a roar and turned to see the lion from before charging me. As it gets closer, I crouch down and jump in the air, drop kicking it in the face when it reaches me. The lion is staggered for a moment, so I take the opportunity to slide down its back and grab it's tail, starting to spin it around. As the beast picks up speed, I take a few steps as I spin to start hitting some of the pirates around me before letting go and allowing the animal to sail over the hideout's wall and into the sea.

I slide into a southpaw stance and step toward one of the pirates still standing, jabbing him in the face until he falls down. I dodged another sword and land a left hook into the ribs of the attacker, breaking one or two of them. I dance through Buggy's crew, punching and countering their attack until only three are left. I grab the closest one and punched him, dazing him enough so that I an slide around to his back and suplex him. I then slid back around to his front, picking him up and throwing him into the other two. I run toward them and jump, bringing my elbows down on their faces to knock them out. I stand and look over at Boodle and Shushu, who are doing fairly well for an old man and a dog. I run over to help them, and together we finish off the last of the pirates.

"We did it!" Boodle cheers, Shushu howling in encouragement. "We saved the village!"

"Not yet." I tell him, interrupting their celebration. "There's still Buggy to worry about." We hear the clashing of swords and turn to see Zoro and the unicycle guy in a deadlock. The unicycle man suddenly jumps in the air, and Buggy's hand shoots toward Zoro at the same time.

"Cabaji! I'll hold Zoro in place, so you can finish him off!" Buggy orders. But before his hand can reach Zoro, Luffy stomps it into the ground, causing Buggy to cry out in pain.

"Don't interfere with Zoro's fight!" Luffy yells at Buggy, grinning. The unicycle guy, Cabaji, falls from the sky and flies toward Zoro who dodges him easily, kicking the unicycle from under him in retaliation.

"I'm tired of being the opponent of someone with such pitiful skills." Zoro remarks.

"Then let me finish you off now, with my real sword skills!" Cabaji yells, charging Zoro.

"**Oni…"** Zoro begins, crouching down. "**Giri**!" In a burst of energy Zoro explodes past Cabaji who stops moving and collapses to the ground, bleeding from the wounds that suddenly appear all over him.

"Dammit, beaten by a common thief." He says, falling over. "How shameful." He mutters.

"Not a common thief, but a pirate" Zoro corrects, taking off his bandana and sheathing his swords. "Luffy, I'm going to take a nap."

"Alright, I'll take care of Buggy." Luffy says as Zoro walks off.

"You mean you guys are pirates!" Buggy exclaims in surprise.

"Yeah!" Luffy confirmed. "Now hand over the map of the Grand Line."

"So that's what you're after. A couple of weak, no-name pirates like yourselves won't last a day in the grand line!" Buggy yells. "What do you plan to do there?! Go sight-seeing?!"

"I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates." Luffy answers seriously. Buggy gets a strange look on his face, then suddenly becomes enraged.

"Don't be a flashy idiot! If you're the Pirate King, then that makes me the Pirate _God_!" He screams. "All the treasure in the world will belong to me, so forget about it!"

"Okay, so hurry up and attack me." Luffy replies with a bored expression. "I'm getting bored." He says, cementing that fact.

_"I'm liking this kid more and more."_ Demona laughs, apparently excited for the fight.

"You're going to eat your words rubber-boy." Buggy growls out. But then Buggy pauses for a moment, looking at Luffy like he just realized something. "Your hat reminds me of someone I knew when I was younger." Buggy remarks. "That red-haired idiot."

"Red hair?" Luffy echoed. "Are you talking about Shanks? Do you know him?" Luffy asks.

"You seem real interested in him." Buggy says. "Yeah I know him, what's it to you."

"Where is he now?" Luffy asks.

"You'd like to know, huh? Well maybe I know…" Buggy begins. "Then again, maybe I don't!"

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asks Buggy, confused. "Are you an idiot?"

"Watch your tongue, you bastard!" Buggy yells at Luffy. "We're mortal enemies, you won't be getting any information out of me without a fight. Not even as a parting gift to hell."

"Good thing I'm willing to beat it out of you." Luffy announces, grinning.

"_~Ga Ha Ha Ha!~ _It's too bad really, but you'll be dead before you get a single word out of me!" Buggy declares, tapping his feet on the ground to activate hidden blades in the shoes. "Not even rubber will be able to withstand the blade of my knife!" He exclaims. I can tell things are about to pop off so I turn around and grab Boodle and Shushu, running off with them.

"What are you doing?!" Boodle demanded. "Put me down!"

"It's too dangerous for you two." I tell them, putting them down outside Buggy's hideout. "Whatever you do, don't come back in here." I continue, before rushing back to the fight, making it back in time to see Luffy fly past Buggy with his arm sticking out, forcing the clown pirate to pop his head off to avoid it. The part of it that surprised me was Luffy's other arm, it was stretched ahead of him latched on to a house. It seemed to be what was pulling Luffy, but proved to be too effective as Luffy crashed into the house he was pulling against. I rush over to the rubble just as Luffy bursts from the wreckage, no injuries of any kind to be seen. "Luffy, how the hell did you do that?!" I demand, surprised. "What happened to your arm?!"

"I'm a rubber-man." Luffy answers as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "See?" To prove his point Luffy stretched out his cheek to outrageous proportions, then let it snap back.

"Oh… Well okay then." I say, backing up to get out of his way.

"How am I supposed to hit you when you keep flying into pieces?" Luffy remarks, turning his attention back to Buggy.

"**Chop Chop Cannon**!" Buggy yells in response, shooting a hand full of knives at Luffy. Luffy catches the hand right before it hits him, but it separates again and cuts the side of his face as well as his hat as they fly past. Luffy fell to the ground, holding onto said hat.

"Damn you!" Luffy growls out, looking furious.

"What's the matter?" Buggy asks mockingly. "Would you rather that I scratch your face?"

"That does it!" Luffy continues, a scary look on his face. "You ripped my hat!"

_"I didn't think the kid could get that angry."_ Demona remarks, sounding impressed.

"So?" Buggy asked, uncaring.

"This hat is my treasure!" Luffy explodes. "Nobody can hurt it!"

"It really means a lot to you, huh?" Buggy asks, grinning.

"That's right!" Luffy replies. Out of the corner of my eye I notice something moving, looking to see Buggy's hand floating in the air. It throws one of the knifes it had between it fingers at Luffy, who, hearing it coming, dodges out of the way in time. Buggy's fist then zooms forward, the blades between its fingers aiming right at Luffy's hat. Without a second thought I rush forwards and jump in the way, taking the blow instead of Luffy's treasure.

"Kendrick!" Someone yells at me, I can't tell who though. I roll across the ground from the force of the attack, coming to a sliding stop on my knee. I grab Buggy's hand and pulled it out of my chest, stomping it into the ground.

"That was a dirty move." I tell him. "Going after Luffy's hat like that." Buggy looks surprised at my sudden recovery, not believing what he's seeing.

"How the hell are you doing that!" Buggy demands, watching my wounds heal in fear.

"_~Hehehehe~ _Honestly? I have no idea." I answer him with a grin. "It just sort of happens. Guess I just can't die by normal means." I continue with a cocky smirk.

"That's bullshit!" Buggy complains. "How am I supposed to beat that?!"

"You aren't." I answer him. "You're supposed to beat him." I say, pointing to someone behind him. Buggy is confused for a second, then seems to remember he's fighting Luffy. He looks around for the rubber-boy, but it's too late to avoid Luffy's attack. Buggy slides across the ground, almost skipping from the strength of Luffy's kick. Luffy walks over and straddled buggy, grabbing him by the face.

"Don't you dare hurt my hat!" Luffy yells in anger. "It was a gift from Shanks!"

"**Chop Chop**-" Buggy starts to say, only to be stopped by Luffy punching his face.

"Don't split apart!" Luffy shouts out at the clown pirate. They tousle for a bit on the ground, but eventually Buggy throws Luffy off of himself.

"Never before has anyone made me as mad as Shanks did!" Buggy growls out as he stands up. "That son of a bitch stole my greatest treasure from me! And I won't forgive him for it!" He exclaims, before he tells us how he and Shanks used to be on the same pirate crew when they were younger. During an attack on a ship, Buggy had found a treasure map while the others discovered a Devil Fruit. When he learned that they were worth a lot of money, he hatched a plan to steal it by pretending to eat it. I backfired, however, when Shanks accidentally scared Buggy into eating the real fruit. The story ended with Shanks saving Buggy from drowning. "I swallowed 100 million Berri that day." Buggy seethes. "Now I can't swim, so I can't reach the treasure on the ocean floor."

"Hmm…so shanks saved your life!" Luffy points out.

"So what! It was all his fault, he ruined my ultimate plan!" Buggy screams, splitting from his waist to float in the air. "So I changed it! If I couldn't get all the treasure under the sea, then I would have all the treasure on it using my new Chop Chop powers! I don't care how insignificant you are! If you dare lay one hand on my treasure, I'll fucking kill you!" He yells. And with that, Buggy launches himself toward Nami, who is in the process of stealing his treasure. I rush after Buggy, jumping on his back when he was close enough to the ground. I grab his head and jerk it around, throwing us off the collision course with Nami so we instead crashed into a nearby building. We roll out of the wreckage, myself punching Buggy in the face repeatedly.

"Nami! Run!" I order, struggling to keep Buggy grounded. Nami nods and runs off, holding a huge sack of treasure above her head. I grab Buggy and lift him in the air, only to slam him back into the ground. Buggy shoots of his arms, knives in hand trained on Nami. I let go of his head so that I can rush after them, but Buggy latches on to my leg with his teeth to trip me. With an growl, I raise my leg and kick a building, smashing Buggy's head against it and forcing him to let go. His arms falter from the pain just enough to I can catch up to them, grab them, and drag them to the ground. Buggy fights back, stabbing me all over to get me to let go.

"ENOUGH!" Buggy roars, tired of being stopped by us. "**Chop Chop Festival**!" He exclaims, before he suddenly bursts into a bunch of smaller parts, escaping from my grasp and rushing Nami. "Let's see you save your friend now!" Buggy laughs. "Now give back my treasure!" He yells at Nami. Buggy's head starts chasing after Nami, with me not far behind. But Buggy must have started losing it, because all of a sudden he starts laughing like a mad man. "_~Gah ha ha ha~ _c-cut that out!" He laughs.

_"The hell's wrong with him?"_ Demona asks, confused.

"_Perhaps he's not all there?"_ Angela offers. Then Buggy's expression changes again, suddenly looking incredibly pained. It then changes a third time, becoming something… Something. I can't figure out if he's smiling or in pain, his face contorted to strange angles.

"Cut it out! I've had enough!" Buggy roars at Luffy.

"How about this!" Nami exclaims, stopping suddenly. "Why don't you cut it out?!" Buggy stops to look at her, reacting quick enough to grab the bag of treasure she swings at him. The two of them stopping finally giving me a chance to catch up, and I jumped into the air and kick Buggy's head away from the bag. He sails into a nearby building and lets go of the bag in the process, dropping it to the ground along with Nami.

"Thanks for saving me." Nami thanks me.

"Of course, I wouldn't be a good friend if I did anything otherwise." I reply with a smile.

"You bastards!" Buggy screams at us, charging with his knifes. Before he can reach us, Luffy comes from nowhere and blindsides him with a punch. Buggy's head rolls across the ground, coming to a stop a few feet away. Something fell from his trailing coat, so I run over and pick it up. It was a piece of paper, one that unrolled into a map.

"Hey, is this the Grand Line map you guys were looking for?" I ask Luffy and Nami.

"Yeah!" They both answer at the same time.

"Now hold on there you bastards!" Buggy yells at us, floating in the air again. "That's my map, and I won't let you take it!"

"You're still alive?" Luffy remarks, sounding annoyed.

"Shut up! I'll kill you!" Buggy yells. "Come together! Chop Chop…" Buggy doesn't finish when he realizes something's wrong, only his hands, feet, and head returned together. "What?!" Buggy exclaims, confused and surprised.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Nami asks, standing on a bound pile of Buggy's body parts.

"Shit! My body!" Buggy yells.

"_~Ha ha ha ha!~ _Good job Nami, leave the rest to me!" Luffy laughs, throwing his arms back so that they stretched a long ways.

"Wait!" Buggy begs the straw hat wearing teen, scared for his life.

"See ya Buggy! **Gum Gum**…" Luffy begins, his arms snapping back. "**Bazooka**!" Luffy's hands explode against Buggy's now minuscule body, launching the captain into the air and over the horizon. I grin at his shrinking form, and figured now would be as good a time as any to pass out from exhaustion. The last thing I see before everything turns black is Buggy disappearing in a similar way to a certain trio that always tries to kidnap a certain Pikachu.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, the second chapter out only a couple days later! Note that this will most likely be the common trend for the first few chapters, because these ones will just be myself going over the ones that kta250298 wrote, and making minor changes. Now, when we get to the Usopp arc, it's going to take longer because I'm probably going to include Ken, so I'm going to actually have to make chapters, thus leading to longer breaks between them. But, I will use the chapters that kta250298 wrote for the Sanji arc. So don't worry about that.<strong>

**Well, since I've only gotten two reviews, I guess it won't take that long to review them. But seriously guys, I know that only like, fifty-five of you have read this, but you would think that with 4 favorites and 6 followers, there would be more reviews.**

**DarkLord98:**

Thanks for being the first to actually review on this, and here's the answers to your guesses. 1: Nope, but that would be a good idea. 2: Close, but not quite. 3: Nope, but yet another good idea. And 4: Nah, if it were that, I would have made the fruit grey. So yeah, the closest would be "Black-Lantern Type" powers. But it doesn't include a ring, or any other object. Instead, he uses things that are in the immediate area. And the because of the ability, he is most powerful during night. Can you guess what his powers are now? If not, they'll be revealed within a couple chapters.

**Daisylovesu:**

Glad you like it! I had a similar thought when I saw that he had discontinued the story, and I hope that you continue to like it. Also, here's the update you wanted.

**Anyways guys, thanks for the support I've gotten for this story so far, and I hope to see you all next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Two Men, A Pet, and A Liar**

* * *

><p>The darkness is always to first thing to get to me, being completely alone with no sense of… Anything really. And just when you can't stand it anymore, noises start to trickle in from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Try as you might, you can never decipher what you're hearing. It's just… Noise. Soon, that too becomes unbearable and then light starts pouring out from inside yourself. Burning and comforting all at once. You feel pricks up and down your skin as smells assault your nose. The sensory overload fights on the edge of torturous and blissful, as if waiting for some unseen force to make up its mind. My fate was decided long ago, the light burning as I gagged on the smell of rotting flesh and blood. Tastes of horrid bile and effluvial grime filled my mouth as I thrashed to escape it all. <strong><em>"Until we have you back, your dreams are ours!"<em>** Voices yelled to me, full of malice and disdain. I screamed for it to end, twisting and turning in a futile attempt to worm my way out of the sensations.

…And then somebody stuck an apple in my mouth.

* * *

><p>"This isn't going to work." A voice says, sounding annoyed.<p>

"Why not?" A familiar voice asks. "Food always helps me."

"That's because you're a monster!" A different, familiar voice yells to the previous one. "Other than his healing, Kendrick is a normal person! …Except for the voices, that's just crazy." They continue.

"You be tortured for three years straight and find a better way to cope with it." I reply with slight annoyance, pulling the apple out of my mouth and swallowing the bite. I hear various gasps and some people scrambling away. It's then that I realized my eyes are still closed, so I hesitantly peek through my lids to see Luffy, Zoro and Shushu looking down at me. "Where am I?" I ask them, taking another bite of the apple.

"At the doctors, the villagers found us and brought you here." Luffy answers, before giving his wide grin. "They were looking for the old guy."

"You mean Boodle?" I ask, taking another bite of the apple. "How is he?"

"I'm fine." I hear a voice answer, prompting me to slowly turn my head toward the mayor.

"Well that's good." I reply, attempting to sit up from the bed that I was lying in. Unfortunately, I don't get very far, still too tired to move effectively. The most I get is shifting around a bit. "Would anybody happen to have some food?" I ask them, finishing the apple. "Luffy's apple seemed to work." I hear some rustling, and a piece of meat is offered to me. I slowly take it and started chewing, swallowing and feeling energized in the process. The pain of having pushed my muscles past their limit dulled with each piece of food I eat, and eventually I have enough strength to sit up and stand. "Well, what are we doing now Nami?" I ask the orange haired girl as I stretch a bit. Nobody answers, choosing instead choosing to look at me in amazement.

"We're leaving soon. Have to make it to the Grand-Line after all." Luffy answers, grinning once again.

"How…" One of the nearby villagers starts. "How is that possible?! Your muscles were torn apart!" They exclaim.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." I reply with a shrug.

_"That's the _stupidest_ thing I've ever heard."_ Demona remarks. I look over towards Nami, who sighs and looks at the ground in defeat.

"I give up!" She exclaims, picking her head up and looking to the sky, throwing her hands up into the air in the process before walking out of the doctors. "I'm done trying to figure you out!"

"Don't be like that." I laugh, following her. "I'm like a puzzle box, once you figure me out there's a prize inside."

_"Only in this case the prize is a kid that's a shell of himself, filling out his self-imposed roles with forced personality and 'shoulder conscious' archetypes."_ Demona remarks.

_"All the while fighting the knowledge that if he ever accepts this he'll fall apart at the seams and dissolve into broken mess of a being, the reality of what's happened to him crashing down upon him."_ Angela agrees. Nami turns to face at me, looking like she's trying to decide something. Luffy and Zoro catch up to us, carrying large bags with them.

"I'm sorry." Nami says. "About what I did. You trusted me and I used it against you, so I'll understand if you don't want to travel with me anymore." She says, looking away in shame.

"Nami, you are one of the only three people I know in the whole world." I tell her, putting my hands on her shoulders. "You'll have to do something drastic for me to leave you guys alone." I say. Nami smiles when I say this, seemingly happy that I don't hate her.

"Alright then!" She exclaims, turning away and walking off. "Let's set sail!"

"Alright, I can't wait!" Luffy giggles, rushing past us. I share a glance with Zoro, before shrugging and walking after them, the swordsman not too far behind.

* * *

><p>We return to our ship, finding Luffy and Zoro's right beside it. "Convenient." I note with a grin. Suddenly, the three pirates we had scammed earlier jump from our ship.<p>

"We've been waiting for you two!" One of them exclaims, brandishing a sword in our direction.

"Yeah, we knew you'd come back." Another agrees.

"Imagine our surprise when…" The third one starts to say, before being distracted by something next to me. Which happens to be Zoro.

"You guys again? Why don't you get lost?" Zoro asks, glaring at them. In response the three pirates scream in fear and jump into the sea, swimming away as fast as they can.

"That was strange." I remark, taking the bags from Luffy and Zoro and placing them in mine and Nami's boat before using them as rudimentary chairs.

"Don't sit on my treasure." Nami scolds, pushing me off. I get up and rub my head, unprepared for the shove. I look at Nami, about to say something until I notice the face she's making. She looks stuck somewhere between furious and shocked, slowly turning to Luffy. "There's a bag missing!" She yells at him. "Where is it?!"

"I left it there so I could carry more food." Luffy answers as if it's obvious. "And so they could fix their town."

"There was at least half a million Berri in that bag!" Nami shouts out, grabbing Luffy to try to force him overboard. "And you gave it away!"

"To be fair, he had a good reason." I defend, stepping between them, in the process stepping into Luffy and Zorro's ship, and pushing the two away from one another. "Why do you need that treasure anyway?"

"I need it buy a village." Nami answers, turning away from us. "I have to collect 100 million Berri."

"That's a lot of money, even for a pirate." Luffy remarks. "It could buy a ton of meat." He says, grinning with stars in his eyes.

"Or Sake." Zoro continues from his place on the ship's deck.

"Why do you need to buy a village?" I ask her. "Interested in becoming an- Oh shit!" Before I can finish what I was going to say, I slip while climbing between our two ships, falling into the sea below. The result is instantaneous; I lose total control of my body as water fills my lungs and stomach. I can't move an inch, my lungs burning for air as I slowly sink toward the bottom of the ocean. I hear something enter the water and feel someone grab me, dragging my body back to the surface. I'm flipped back onto the deck, still unable to move. My eyes roll a bit, making it so I could only see the feet of everyone.

"Kendrick!" Luffy exclaims. "Why isn't he moving?!" He yells out. Nami kneels next to me, leaning close.

"He's not breathing." She announces. "Stand back, you need to give us room." Nami pumps my chest a few times, attempting CPR, and then tries to breathe some air into my lungs.

_"__You know, I wonder if this would count as a first kiss." _Demona remarks idly.

_Really?! I'm practically dying here, and _that's_ what you're worried about?! _I yell at her. After a few more CPR attempts, Nami slams her fist on the deck.

"Dammit, this isn't working!" She growls.

"I have an idea!" Luffy exclaims, running off somewhere. He quickly returns, putting something in my mouth and practically shoving it down my throat. Whatever it is gives me enough strength to roll over, allowing me to lean off the ship's edge and hurl up all the sea water in my stomach. I lay there heaving for a few moments, gasping for air in between each wave. I slowly sit up, turning to face the others.

"Some more food would be appreciated." I gasp out, wiping tears from my eyes.

* * *

><p>It's about an hour later that I find myself sitting on the deck, a spare blanket wrapped around me. After I regained my strength, Nami gave me the blanket to cover myself with while my clothes dried. "How are you doing?" Zoro asks, watching out for Luffy and Nami. We had found an island that was supposed to be uninhabited, but Luffy wanted to explore it anyway. Zoro was taking a nap at the time, and I didn't feel up to going, so Nami and Luffy went alone. A sudden noise had woken Zoro, but he decided it must have been nothing as we heard nothing else since then.<p>

"I'm doing fine, thanks." I answer. "It's just…" I trail off and look at the deck, not exactly sure how to continue. Zoro doesn't say anything, but turns away from the shore to look at me. "I forgot how awful it was. Being trapped in the dark, no air, and no way to escape. The burning." I finally continue quietly. "I forgot how cruel the world can be." I say.

"You say that like you've drowned before." Zoro notes.

"I've down more than drowned." I reply, still looking at the deck. "Crucified, boiled in steel pots, shredded of my skin before being whipped, electrocuted... Pumped full of lead. I've met my fair share of tortures." I tell him. We don't say anything for a moment or two, before I start to talk again. "I suppose if I think about it, things turned out pretty good." I continue, a small smile appearing on my face. "All things considered, it could have gone far worse for me. I did meet you guys after all, didn't I?" Zoro nods in agreement, the slight smile on his face saying everything. "I think I'm going to go for a walk." I announce, standing up, placing the blanket on the deck, throwing on my now dry clothes, and jumping down to the ground. As I'm about to walk away, I hesitate and look over my shoulder at the boats. "Hey Zoro." I call out, getting his attention. "Thanks for listening." I say. He nods again, before leaning back against the side of the boat to nap I assume. As he does this, I start to walk along the beach, feeling better about things.

* * *

><p>I've been walking for a while now, and I'm about to head back when I notice a cave entrance along the sand. <em>"I don't think it's a good idea to go in there."<em> Angela says as I walk closer.

"It's just a cave, what harm ever came from entering a cave?" I ask her.

_"What harm ever came from reading a book?!"_ Angela counters.

_"I don't think there's going to be many mummies on an island like this."_ Demona replies. _"Let's see what's inside."_ She suggests. I walk in, brushing some webs out of my way as I go. Cracks in the ceiling illuminate the tunnel, which become more and more open as I follow it. Eventually the cave opens up into a large cavern, a skylight showing a large chest in the center of it. It was shaped like the stereotypical pirate's chest, but much longer. _"_~Oooh~ _Maybe there's treasure in it!"_ Demona exclaims giddily. I walk closer and grab the lid, struggling to open it for a moment until it snaps off its hinges. The reason quickly becomes apparent, a mixture of rust and webs raining down on me. _"What's inside?" _She asks. I peek inside the chest and my jaw drops open in shock. Inside the chest are what appear to be custom made weapons of sorts. They each have a grip much like a whip's, but it looks like they were made out of metal with black leather wrapped around it so that you wouldn't actually _touch_ the metal. Then, in place of the actual whip part, there were long, metal chains. But unlike the large, bulky ones that were on the pirate's ship I'd stolen, these were long, but very, _very_ thin. "_*Whistle* Now _those_ are weapons."_ Demona remarks in awe.

_"__I will admit, they seem to be suitable. And now we have an actual weapon to defend ourselves with."_ Angela agrees. I nod my head, before noticing a note attached to one of them. But what surprises me is that it's a _sticky-note_. I stare at it for a few seconds, realizing that it meant that someone from my world had been here at one point, before getting over my shock and reading it.

To whom it may concern,

I leave these here in the off chance that someone may stumble across them. I have no need for them anymore, seeing as I shall soon perish due to lack of substantial food and water. Should you find them, know this: They are made of a special metal that has been dubbed _Adamantium._ It is nigh _impossible_ to break, and should prove useful to whomever wields them. May the sea give you better luck than it has myself, and goodbye.

Sincerely,

One not of this world

I stare at the note for a while, before finally folding it and placing it in one of the pockets on my pants, which reminds me that I _have_ to get some newer, better ones. I take one last look in the chest, and notice that there's something else. I reach in and pull it out, revealing that it's actually two objects lying on top of one another. They're the "holsters" for the newly acquired chain-whips that I've gotten. I nod to myself when I put them on and add the whips, before turning towards the entrance and get ready to leave, stopping only when I notice something moving at the edge of the light. I walk over to inspect it, finding what looks like a rock jostling around. As I lean closer, cracks appear and pieces fall away to reveal a spider about the size of my hand. The spider scrambles about a bit, but finally drags itself out of its egg to look at me. I gingerly reach my hand down to pick it up, the spider taking the opportunity to crawl up my arm and around my upper torso before finally deciding to settle itself on my right shoulder.

"Hey little guy, aren't you friendly?" I remark, laughing a bit. "Do you have me confused for your mother maybe?" I ask. The spider turns to face something behind me, making a hissing sound. I turn around as well, finding something that nearly stops my heart. A group of five or six dog-sized spiders had amassed behind me, making a ring that trapped me against the wall. "Hey there guys, sorry for breaking into your house." I laugh nervously, holding my hands up in surrender and backing up slightly.

_"I told you not to come in here!"_ Angela declares angrily. _"But you didn't listen to me!" _One of the spiders hisses at me, freezing me in my tracks. More cracking sounds prompt me to look behind myself, seeing more spiders hatching from their eggs. They crawl from their eggs and over to the bigger spiders, climbing onto their backs. I slowly edge around the cave towards the entrance, taking extra care to not step on an egg or baby spider. The bigger ones back up a bit to allow me through, but hiss threateningly when I start to leave. I was confused for a moment, then realize that the first spider is still on my shoulder. I reach up and pluck it off me, gently setting the little thing on the ground. The spider seems hesitant to go toward its brethren, but scamper over to them none the less. One of the big spiders twists around it, as if inspecting it for damage, before it hissed angrily and uses one of its eight legs to punt it away. All the other spiders suddenly turn on it, herding it back toward me with hisses and clacking mandibles. We're driven back out of the cave, the spiders heading back in once we had completely left it with a few more hisses.

I look down at the spider, feeling guilty. I must have done something that pissed of the bigger ones, and now it has nowhere to go. _"Sucks for it."_ Demona remarks. _"Let's head back to the ships."_ She continues as if nothing new happened.

_"We can't just leave it alone, we need to do something."_ Angela tells us. I think for a moment, and then kneel down next to the arachnid.

"Sorry about getting you disowned." I tell it. "Why don't you come with me and my friends, it'll be fun." I suggest. I don't think it understood me, but the spider crawled back up to my shoulder none the less. I heard a laugh nearby, turning to my right to see two men watching me. They were both wearing large concealing cloaks, and the only distinguishing feature was that the one to my right has on a black cloak, while the one on my left is wearing a white one. "Hello." I greet them. "I didn't know anyone lived here."

"We don't." The one on the left answered. "We were just visiting, making sure things fell into place." He tells me.

"That makes you sound like you're plotting." I note, standing up. "What's your story?"

"You'll figure that out for yourself." The one on the right says, before a thick black smoke starts to trickle in from everywhere and nowhere at once. It completely surrounds the area, blocking everything in sight, before it fades away. I'm surprised when it clears to see that the two men are gone, vanished as suddenly as they appeared. I look around for them, but can't find a trace or clue as to who they were. I shrug before I head to the ships.

* * *

><p>I return to find the others waiting for me, Luffy and Nami back from their excursion. "Here." Zoro suddenly says, handing me an envelope.<p>

"What's this?" I ask him, looking it over.

"Two guys were here earlier, they asked us to give this to you." Nami answers, looking pensive about something. I open the envelope, finding a letter of all things. _Huh._ _Who'd-a-thunk it?_ I think in surprise. The letter reads,

Dear Kendrick,

Sorry we couldn't stay and chat, but we had business to take care of. I'm sure you're wondering who we were, but you'll just have to find that out on your own. For now all we can give you this advice. Live for now. Things are only going to get more difficult from here, and you'll never live life without regrets, so try to have a good time. If you ever think that you're asking too much, or if a little voice tells you that you're being too greedy, tell that voice to go fuck itself. You've done your time, and now is your chance to make up for it. This world, and many others, owe you their awe. Make sure they give it to you.

Sincerely,

Some Friends

I have to smile at the letter, a small chuckle escaping me. I fold it back up and slide it into my pocket along with the sticky-note from earlier, looking up in time to stop Nami's staff from hitting me again. "Oh come on!" I exclaim in annoyance, jumping back slightly. "What did I do this time?!"

"Hold still, there's a spider on you!" Nami responds, taking another swing.

"I know there is!" I grunt, dodging the swipe. "I put it there!" Nami stops trying to kill my new pet long enough to glare at me.

"What?" She asks in a deadpan voice.

"It's my new friend." I continue, picking up the spider and holding it out. "I accidentally made it an orphan, so I'm taking responsibility." Nami freezes for a moment after I say that, a sad look appearing on her face. Then she turns away with a huff.

"Fine, it can stay." She says. "But if I find it anywhere near my bed, I'm squashing it."

"Fair enough." I agree. "Now all I have to do is think of a name." I continue as I sit down across from my new spider pet, staring at it as I try to find a suitable name.

* * *

><p>It's dark when I shoot up, finally thinking of the perfect name. "I've got it!" I exclaim.<p>

"What?!" Nami shouts out blearily, stepping out of her room. "What's happening?!"

"I know what I'm going to call him!" I answer her, picking up my new friend and not noticing the tick mark that appears on Nami's head. "His name will be Wilson!" I exclaim. Suddenly, with a painful _~crack!~ _As Nami hits me over the head with her staff.

"Don't wake me for something so stupid like that again!" She yells at me, a scary look on her face as she stomps back to her room and slams the door shut.

"Who took the jam out of her donut?" I wonder aloud, lying on the deck to get some rest, the newly named Wilson moving to sit on my chest.

* * *

><p>I wake up to the sounds of gunfire and explosions, dust falling on my face from a concrete ceiling. "Sir, ve are running out of time!" exclaims an elderly man with a thick German accent.<p>

"I know zis _dummkopf_! Ze Golem is almost complete, I just have to make sure it vill follow our orders." A far younger looking man says in response. Sounding slightly rushed all the same.

"What's going on?" I try to say, only for nothing to come out.

"Golem, rise!" The younger man commands. I was going to do nothing, just ignore the man and what he was saying, but instead I stand up from the table I had been laying on.

"What the hell is happening?!" I try to yell out, once again staying silent.

"Good, good." The younger man mutters, nodding his head with a slight smile. "Now Golem, kill him!" The man exclaims, pointing towards a person behind me, my body turning against my will to face a fairly old man tied to a pole. Seeing me look at him, the man starts thrashing to get free.

"There's no way I'm killing some innocent guy!" I exclaim in protest. But still, nothing comes out. Then I start walking. My footsteps pound heavily into the floor, my body having more weight than usual. The man starts begging for his life, but I can do nothing to stop myself. I have no control over my body as I reach down, taking the man's head in my hands. "Dear God, somebody stop me!" I beg, only for no one to hear my cries as I start to squeeze. "Don't make me do this! I don't want to do this!" I continue to protest. The man screams louder as I squeeze harder, everything ending in an instant. Blood runs down my fingers as I try desperately to look away, the gaze in the man's eyes reflecting a monster just before his head shatters. I'm frozen, horrified at what I had just done.

"Vell done, come Golem. But zere is still much work to be done." The man says again. A moment passes, and then I scream.

And scream.

And scream.

I don't know who screamed louder. Me… Or all the innocent people I killed that day.

* * *

><p>"Kendrick! Kendrick!" A voice calls to me. "You have to wake up!" I gasp and shoot up, almost slamming my head against Nami's. She scrambles back just in time, surprised. I take short, ragged breaths, freaking out because of my dream. "Kendrick, everything's ok." Nami tells me soothingly, trying to calm me down. "You need to breathe. Breathe." I sit there for a minute or two, my legs curling up against my chest as I slowly gain control of myself once again. I calm down, unfurling and leaning back against the railing. "Kendrick, what happened?" Nami asks quietly. "Are you ok?"<p>

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." I answer her. "Just a nightmare."

"Are you sure?" A voice asks behind me. I turn around to see Luffy looking at me in concern, Zoro's expression unreadable.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I reply, forcing a smile. Luffy doesn't look convinced, but thankfully drops it. As does Nami, who has another pensive look on her face. I sigh and lie back down, watching the clouds drift by.

* * *

><p>"We need to plan things more!" Nami suddenly declares, gaining the crew's attention.<p>

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks her.

"We are woefully unprepared for the Grand Line right now." Nami answers as if it's obvious.

"You're right." Luffy agrees with a surprisingly serious face… Before it breaks out into one of hunger and excitement. "We've got lots of fruit, but were running out of meat!" He yells out, making me face fault. At this point, I've just accepted that anime physics are reality in this world.

"That's because you keep eating it all!" I yell at him with shark teeth as I shoot up onto my feet, before I sit back down and start playing with Wilson.

"I'm not talking about the food supplies!" Nami yells at the rubber man.

"And we're running out of Sake too." Zoro notes, supposedly ignoring what Nami's saying.

"Let's not worry about meat and sake right now!" Nami orders. "The Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the world! Pirates from all over want to get the treasure there, so we need to get a better ship first." She tells us.

"It couldn't hurt to get some new crew members also." I interject, looking up from Wilson. "Like a doctor. Or someone who can fix our ship."

"What do we do then?" Luffy asks.

"We have to prepare for our trip, and plan for the journeys ahead." Nami answers, pulling out a map. "There's a village due north from here, we should go there and look for a better ship."

"And eat some meat!" Luffy exclaims excitedly, making me and Nami sigh in defeat. Wilson even takes the time to click his mandibles together, getting a sweatdrop at the scene.

_Alright, guess he can understand the human language after all… That, or the other explanation is anime physics._ I think to myself, before letting go of the thought to help turn the ship.

* * *

><p>We sail for a bit more, before an island eventually appears on the horizon. "Wow! There's really an island here!" Luffy exclaims as we beach the ships, surprise evident on his face.<p>

"What did you expect?" Nami asks him. "We followed the map, so we wouldn't be wrong."

"Oh…" Luffy responds. "Is there a village here?" He asks, looking around.

"Uh huh, looks like there's a small village." Nami answers, taking another look at the map that she brought. We disembark, Zoro stretching as he steps onto the beach.

"Been a long time since I last stood on firm ground." Zoro remarks.

"That's because you were sleeping all the time." Luffy notes.

"By the way, I just noticed a moment ago, what are those guys doing there?" Zoro asks, pointing at a nearby cliff. Atop of which are what looked like four people, three of which run off screaming when they realize they were spotted.

"Hey you!" The last figure shouted at his retreating allies. "Don't run away!" We all stare at the last guy, waiting to see what he'd do. He seems unsure for a moment, then climbs down and stands between us and the path to the village. He crosses his arms and tries to seem as imposing and intimidating as possible. "I am the great pirate fleet leader, Usopp, who is in charge of the security of this village!" He exclaims. "I'm also known as 'Captain', 'Captain Usopp'!" He declares. Now that he's closer, I can get a better look at the kid. He doesn't seem that much older than any of us with tanned skin and black, bushy hair that's held together under a hairnet. He's wearing brown overalls, has a satchel with him, and has an incredibly long nose. Almost reminiscent of Pinocchio. "It's best if you don't try to attack this village." He continues. "Because my 80 million men would not forgive you!"

"You're lying, right?" Nami asks him in a deadpan voice.

"_~Waa!~ _I've been caught!" Usopp exclaims with anime tears.

"See! You even said it yourself!" Nami continues.

"_~Arghh!~ _Did I just say that?" Usopp wails. "Bad planning! Bad planning indeed!" I snicker at the sight before us, amused at Usopp's attempt to trick us.

"_~Hahahahaha!~ _You're so funny!" Luffy laughs.

"Hey! Don't underestimate me! I'm a man with high self-esteem!" Usopp exclaims, pointing a thumb at himself as if to reinforce the point. "And everyone around here calls me 'Honorable Usopp'!" He continues.

"Yet the first thing you do when you meet us is lie." I remark, pointing at him for emphasis.

"Yea, well…" Usopp trails off, not able to think of a comeback.

"We should probably head into town. We won't get supplies just standing here." I suggest to the others. "It was nice meeting you Usopp." I say with a grin.

"Wait! You mean you're not here to attack us?" Usopp asks, sounding confused.

"No, why would we? We just need to get some more food." Luffy answers with his trademark grin.

"Oh! If you're here for that, I know a good place in town." Usopp says with his own grin. "Follow me."

* * *

><p>A little while later, we find ourselves chowing down on some fairly good food. "So you're looking for companions and a big ship?" Usopp asks us between bites.<p>

"Yup." Luffy confirms, taking a big bite out of a piece of mutton.

"Sounds like a big adventure!" Usopp exclaims, sounding excited. "There's only one place where you can find all the stuff you want in this village. Although it's not a very big ship, it's not that small either." He tells us.

"Where?" Nami asks.

"There's a house not far from here that belongs to a wealthy family. The ship belongs to the mansion's owner." Usopp explains. "But the owner is very sick, a young girl that's bedridden all day."

"Then how come she's the owner of the mansion?" Nami asks the long-nosed teen.

"She probably inherited from her parents." I explain between bites of food. "That's usually how these things happen. _~swallow~ _But I can't help but feel for her if that's true." I continue with a downcast look.

"You're right. I think it happened about a year ago, her parents died of sickness and left her a large fortune, along with the mansion and over ten servants." Usopp continues. "Even if you're really rich, it doesn't exempt you from sorrow."

"Are you okay, Nami?" I ask our navigator, noticing that she has a strange look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answers, waving off my concern and changing her facial expression so that it's back to her normal smile. "Let's forget about searching for a ship in this village, we'll find one somewhere else." She tells us.

"Alright, but I need to get some things before we leave." I say, standing up. "Nami, could I borrow some money?" I ask the orange haired girl.

Nami hesitated for a moment, before smiling evilly at me. "Sure. But I expect full pay in return, as well as three-hundred percent interest." She tells me. I look at her in shock at her terms, before smirking a bit.

"Oh well," I start, shrugging my shoulders to go along with it. "I guess that I'm not gonna be getting that book on how we can take better care of whatever ship we end up getting." I say with fake disappointment in my voice. Nami goes wide eyed, before narrowing her eyes, and handing me money while growling out something that sounded suspiciously like a compliment for my negotiation tactics, as well as annoyance for said ability as well.

"Appreciate it, I'll be back soon." I thank her with a winning smile. "Usopp is there any place to get some books around here?" I ask the teen in question.

"I think the general store might have a few." He answers. "I have to go anyways. I'll show you where it is."

* * *

><p>Usopp and I leave the café, arriving at the store a minute later.<p>

"Here it is, hope you find what you're looking for!" Usopp shouts, running off with a wave. I return the wave, and walk into the store, a bell ringing as I did so.

"Welcome!" A man behind the counter greets me. "How can I help you?" He asks.

"My friends and I are planning a trip, and I was wondering if you had any books about ship repair." I tell him.

"_~hmm~ _I think I might, wait here a moment please." The man responds. He walks through a back door, the sounds of rummaging drifting to the store proper. He returns a moment later, volume in hand. "Here you go, 'A General Look at Ships and the Building There of'." The man says, placing the book on a counter. "This should have what you're looking for, that'll be 530 Berri." My heart nearly jumps from my chest at the price. I look down at the money that Nami had given me, and I'm surprised to find more than enough to pay for it. Assuming that it's a simple case of different values than what I'm used to, I pay the man and leave to look for the others.

* * *

><p>I returned to the café to find that Nami and the others have already left. I search around for them, slightly frustrated that they just disappeared like that. "You got any ideas?" I ask Wilson, who's sitting on my shoulder, as we walk down the street. "Cuz I can't think of anything." I tell him. In response, Wilson turns, looking in all directions by turning his body with his eight legs. Finally, he looks towards the mansion that Usopp had been talking about earlier, and makes a few clicking sounds with his mandibles. I look at the mansion, and then smile. "You're right, that's the only place we haven't checked yet, isn't it?" I ask the spider rhetorically. "Well then, let's go ahead and check to see if the crew's there." I continue, speeding up my pace from walking to jogging.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, once again if you read the first version, you can tell that I've changed a few things. The most important? I've given Ken weapons! Don't worry, the Devil Fruit will come into play soon. Probably somewhere within the next couple chapters. But, I wanted to give him something to use until that point.<strong>

**Hmmm… What else that's majorly important…? Ah! So yeah, like I've stated in earlier chapters, I've taken out Zalgo, Zane and the like since the original author re-wrote this story. So therefore, some things in later chapters are going to be changed to fit in with ****_this_**** re-write. Such as how Ken is going to be an actual part of the Usopp Arc. Now, I have plans for Ken and the back-stabbing butler. One of which has to do with the butler's choice of weaponry. Now, on with the reviews to reviews!**

**Daisylovesu:**

**I'm happy to hear that you're excited for updates! As for his description, I'll go a little more in depth on that in the next chapter. I'm going to talk with the original author about that, since they ****_are_**** the ones who wrote this first, and I don't want to erase how they envisioned Ken.**

**FrozenWulf13:**

**Good to know that you like it! And don't worry, the Devil Fruit power shall be revealed in time…**

**missNOBODYa. :**

**Good to know that you're enjoying this!**

**DarkLord98:**

**…****I'm not going to answer that since I don't want to ruin the surprise for the other readers. But I will say this. You are so close to the truth, that if the truth was hot, your face would be melting off in a way similar to that of the people in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark."**

**OhYolanda:**

**Always like to hear that people are enjoying my story!**

**Thomas Drovin:**

**Alright, gonna try to reply to both your reviews in a single one here. So here we go.**

**1: Glad to know you're happy with the pairing! Honestly, I saw that it was going that way, and I don't see that many OC x Nami pairings for this category. So, I've made one!**

**2: Well, the differences for what he shall change in the Usopp Arc shall start next chapter, so I hope you look forward to that!**

**3: You've got a good connection with Wolverine, and it's part of what gave me the idea for the Adamantium. But as for the dark creature… I'm afraid that's false. The sharp teeth were already written in from ****kta250298****, and I ended up keeping them in since I'm just editing the chapters that they already wrote. The next one that I write will be completely original though!**

**4: Sorry, Ken didn't eat the pirates. I probably should have written that down. But no, because he had eaten the Devil Fruit a few minutes before hand, he wasn't hungry at the time, thus allowing his arm to grow back. Instead, the pirates were all killed, and left on the beach and the sea dead. Also, I haven't watched the Jeepers Creepers films (And have no ideas of watching them any time soon since I freak out like there's no tomorrow during horror movies) So I wouldn't be able to understand the reference. Sorry.**

**Anyways, I look forwards to seeing you all during the next chapter, which will be completely original! See you then!**


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